Eleven Fifty-Four
by Calamity Heart
Summary: "His torture was unbearable, but the release that came from it was unimaginable." A Sasu/Saku fic about a long-anticipated night of passion. Reviews are cherished! Extended!
1. Home Again

**Hello, hello! Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this. This is just a little thing I decided to type up over the course of a couple of days to try and get the gears turning a little bit to work on some other stuff. Pure Sasu/Saku goodness ahead!**

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Even after the rain began to fall in peals and obscure everything a few feet beyond the view through the hazy window, Sakura stood to watch. It was dark, she was tired, and her hopefulness that he would come was quickly waning, but it was 11:54, and she was determined to give him until 'today' was over before she'd give up and go to bed.

There was always excitement for these particular days, no matter how frequent they were. Whenever she heard the call of a hawk outside her balcony doors and read the note that it was carrying, typically a simple date in simple penmanship and nothing more, the anticipation would boil and bubble in her core. She would become frantic, whether the date was a week away or a day away, and would commit her (and usually her daughter's) entire existence to any housework that had yet to be done, with the intent of making her home as spotless and presentable as possible.

She was a good wife, and she knew he thought so, even though he never said it. He didn't have to. For that matter, since their relationship began, the words 'I love you,' never left his lips, and she was certain they never would. He never complimented her, and only called her by her name, 'Sakura'. Never 'sweetie' or 'dear' or any pet names. Romantic words and playful little gestures were Naruto's thing. Sasuke was never one for trifling words. Actions speak much louder, after all.

Without fail, he'd always arrive on the day he said he would, stay for a week, and leave without a goodbye. He's _never_ been late, which is what made Sakura so nervous as she stood at the window, thin brows furrowed, green eyes glowing with intense concern…

She'd be lying if she said she lived in total peace and comfort. Even more than a decade later, there were still quite a few people who hated Sasuke and the fact that he'd been pardoned. She heard the whispers about him, a 'self-righteous nomad', a 'traitor' and a 'turncoat'. With any number of malevolent pursuers, there was always some faint amount of tension and worry for Sasuke, a silly notion, given his status as one of the most powerful shinobi in the ninja world, but a worry nonetheless.

Normally, she kept her worry far away from the rest of her thoughts. Sasuke could take care of himself, and he always got here on time and always protected them. _Always._ Except… this time. They waited all day. Nine-year-old Sarada was so excited to be able to see her father again, and Sakura shared all her daughter's excitement and enthusiasm. But as morning passed quickly into evening, most of the excitement had melted into disappointment. And as evening faded to a dreary, rainy midnight, with Sarada in bed sad and asleep, only Sakura was left up in the quiet house, and her disappointed had frozen over into concern.

He'd been ambushed before. Could something have happened this time? Could Sasuke be hurt somewhere? Did he write the wrong date? Did she misread it? Sakura stared hard at the simple '3/30' on the slip she kept in her hand. She hadn't misread. And as her eyes turned from the sheet of paper to the clock, she sighed softly. It was ten seconds to midnight. Sakura spared one last longing glance at the rain-soaked window before pulling the curtains in and turning away.

Part of her wished she'd just gone to bed at the same time her daughter had. She'd sloppily gotten halfway ready for bed, too, foregoing her usual nightgown or slip, and just wearing one of Sasuke's larger black shirts with the Uchiha crest on the back, that he'd left for her his last visit. Since it only came down to her thighs and left her legs completely bare, it might as well have just been a makeshift slip... At least if she'd gone to bed then, she would've been able to sleep somewhat well and save all her worry and concern for the morning. Now she was uncertain if she'd even be able to sleep, thinking and weighing in her mind whether or not something could have gone badly for Sasuke that prevented him from coming this time…

The darkness and silence of her large estate, minus the pattering rain, bothered Sakura a tad more than it usually did as her bare feet made their way silently across the floor, starting up the slightly-creaky steps. Her home was too large and too quiet at night. Although that made it far easier to detect intruders, it put her more than a little on edge as well. Sometimes, like now, it gave her the impression that she was being watched, or… waited for.

She shivered, deciding not to head straight to her room and instead peek into her daughter's room. She opened the door as slowly as she could to prevent creaking, and stared for a long few warm moments at the back of Sarada's head as she shifted about slightly in her sleep. She turned over, and when Sakura looked at her daughters face, she saw him in her. She saw herself as well, of course, but whenever she looked at Sarada, she felt that no matter how long Sasuke would leave for, he never truly left.

This brought a little smile to her face. Before she closed the door again, she briefly noted the fact that Sarada had tucked herself in surprisingly well. A little better than her mother usually did. She didn't think too much about it, and as she continued toward the master bedroom, her thoughts drifted back toward her concern. With a sigh, she shook her head and tried to clear her mind, just so that there was a chance that she'd be able to get some sleep…

…But as she opened her door and took a step in, her mind emptied of thoughts of sleep entirely, and all her thoughts and concerns and worries up and melted away without a trace. Sakura froze solid, her eyes opening wide and her jaw dropping a tad.

There he stood, his cloak and shirt draped over one of their armoire doors, his blade resting against the wall beside the balcony doors, and his shirtless form casually beginning to put away the couple of sets of clothing he'd bring with him every time. His hair was soaking wet, messy, and clinging all over his head, and every inch and ridge of his slim, muscular torso glistened in the candlelight with dampness from the rain. He didn't seem to take notice of Sakura until the last of his belongings were fit into the large dresser.

When he looked at his wife, she shuddered with renewed excitement, and neither of them spoke for a long few moments, letting the hissing patter of the rain outside fill the silence.

Finally, Sakura moved first, putting her hands on her hips and feigning a disappointed glare.

"You're late," she told him softly and firmly, frowning poutily for the full effect.

She made him smile, and that's all she could have asked for. Sasuke shook his head, closing the armoire and walking toward her. He reached out… and his hand moved past her to slowly shut their bedroom door. His eyes never left hers, and when the click of security sounded, he finally spoke.

"_You're_ late," is his response, to which Sakura merely blinked before he elaborated. "I've been waiting for you to come upstairs for almost six minutes now."

The fake sternness faded from Sakura's face, and only her pouting was left as she continued to speak quietly. "Sarada was disappointed. She was really looking forward to seeing you today."

"She did. I woke her up and sent her back off to sleep."

_He_ tucked her in. The realization melted that pout right off of her lips, and Sakura just couldn't help but break into a smile. And unable to hold herself back any longer, she threw her arms around his waist and threw her face against his cold, wet chest. He smelled like a lake, and it slightly frustrated Sakura that there was nothing else she could glean about his travels. Usually, there were some slight hints on his person and his scent about where he'd been to: a hint of sand, a tiny whiff of ozone, some faint traces of mud on his cloak… The rain had washed him clean. She'd have to ask him another time.

His hands started at her hips and took their time roaming up the curves of her body over the thin black shirt. He took her waist and pulled her even closer against him, then moved his hands to her bare arms, his cool touch making her shiver. Slowly, his hands rose from her arms to her shoulders, to her slender neck, through her soft hair, across her soft cheeks, and he gently pulled her face from his chest, tilting her head for her to look up at him.

They stared at each other, and though he didn't say a word, the deepness of his onyx eyes told Sakura everything she'd ever need to hear. He leaned down toward her, and she lifted herself onto the balls of her feet, and their parted lips met softly and easily. She closed her eyes and sighed gently, and he accepted the invitation to slip his tongue into her mouth to reunite with hers.

They danced between each other's mouths, Sakura moving with desperate joy and relief, while Sasuke kept as calm and strong and steady as he typically did. His hands move to her shoulders, and he gently guided her backwards and pinned her against the door. As Sasuke pulled his lips briefly away from hers, Sakura gently muttered to him.

"I missed you…"

The next kiss was hers, and Sasuke's eyes closed as he allowed her to expend as much of her eagerness as she wished. His touch rested idly on her shoulders, while hers roamed quickly up and down his slick flesh, over his shoulders, down his back, through his sopping hair, and tugging fitfully at the loops in his rain-dampened black pants. He nipped gently at her lower lip, and it was enough for her to know it wasn't time just yet. As needy and impatient as she was, she heeded him, and kept her hands above his waist for the most part.

Sakura wanted to embrace him and touch him and kiss him forever, almost comically eager to be close to her husband, especially after being downcast and worried for so many hours. But she only had so much energy she could put into kissing and touching, and when her motions began to wane, he calmly took the lead, bringing his steady hands once again to her slender hips.

Gently, Sasuke squeezed her hips and drew himself closer to her, breaking their heated kiss and bringing his lips to her neck instead. Sakura's trembling palms found his back again, and a warm little sigh left her lips. The rosy blush that had already begun to cloud her cheeks spread further through her face as Sasuke's hands started rising once more. Only this time, his gentle grip began to draw her shirt up as well, until his grip is at her waist, the shirt's rumpled hem is above her navel, and the cottony innocence of her pink-trimmed white panty briefs is in his full view.

"This storm is worse in other places than it is here," Sasuke murmured softly, prompting Sakura to tilt her head curiously which gave him more of her soft flesh to kiss in the process. "It's a bit more difficult to travel very far in the wind and rain."

Sakura closed her eyes and shook her head. "You don't have to explain, Sasuke. I'm just glad you're here."

"Mm. I'm sure you would've asked eventually. Arms up."

Sakura reluctantly uncoiled her arms from around her husband and raised them toward the ceiling. It was less than a moment's huff, because as soon as she did so, Sasuke gripped the hem of her shirt, sliding it completely over her head and letting it drop, leaving the both of them topless. Her hands dropped to his shoulders, and his return to her waist, slowly drifting just a bit higher, enough for him to move his thumbs across her soft flesh just under her perked little buds.

Every touch excited her, and every kiss and occasional nip at her neck made her crave more. The way he treated everything slowly and patiently drove her mad, and though she whined, she loved it all the same. She wished sometimes that there was something she could do to get him to pick up the pace a bit, but every time she tried to urge him on, he teased her even more slowly, and took that much longer to actually get her into bed. So she lived with the excitement of torment.

By the time his hands rose high enough to actually cup and squeeze at either breast, Sakura found herself squirming against the door, and sighed shakily and arched her back with relief once his firm touch begin to send tiny ticklish sparks of pleasure through her form. He began to nip and suckle at one spot in particular on her neck until she was sore, pulling his lips back to reveal the rosy little mark he left behind.

Sakura moaned out, furrowing her brows and opening her heated emerald eyes to give Sasuke a pleading, needy stare, hoping that just this once, he'd show her mercy. He answered by slipping his fingers down the front of her panties.

Sakura had always thought figuratively in her head that her husband's touch electrified her, but at times, she had to wonder if he really _was_ electrifying her sometimes. The amount of stimulation she'd gain from a single intimate touch like that, let alone when he let his fingers dance against her, was unreal, and with Sasuke's affinity with lightning, she wouldn't be surprised if this was his own sexual version of the Chidori.

Whether just pure skill or clever use of chakra, his touch set Sakura on thin air, and nothing could stop the ecstatic gasp from leaving her lips, or her thighs from closing tightly and trembling, or her toes from curling into themselves. Minutes would pass without Sakura even realizing, far too busy squirming against Sasuke's strong grasp on one breast pinning her to the bedroom door while his other hand tortured her in the best way possible.

"S-Sasuke…"

Her breath grew warmer by the moment as her core began to simmer, and he didn't stop until he could smell her arousal on the air. Sasuke withdrew damp fingers and held them to her lips for her to clean. It was the little things she did that would stoke Sasuke's own well-hidden lust, and as he watched her lap her tongue all over and between his digits, lashing at his fingertips with her tongue-tip and giving his knuckle a brief suckle, he knew he needed to bring her to bed soon, for both their sakes.

Once Sakura was satisfied with her own flavor, Sasuke took her by the hand and pulled her away from the door, guiding her with a small push toward the bed. She couldn't have moved faster if she tried, and basically lunged across their large bedroom to jump and lay across the bed and stare at him, waiting for him to join her.

Sasuke shook his head again and sighed, another small half-smile warming his face. As with everything else, he took his time walking toward the bed, idly undoing his pants as he went, and when he finally came to sit down on the edge of the bed, he gazed at her prone form with her legs kicking playfully up and down as he slid out of his pants and set them aside.

"Calm down," he said, pushing lightly on her shoulder and rolling her over onto her back before tugging her toward him by the ankle.

The dampness of her panties was proof enough he hadn't lost his touch, but his attention fell first upon her waiting lips. He rested one elbow beside her head as he climbed up to loom over her, using his other hand to take a gentle grip of her hair as he leaned in and pressed his lips strongly and coolly against her own before drifting toward her neck and allowing her to speak.

"You don't want me to be calm, Sasuke… If you did, you wouldn't tease me like you do…" she murmured hotly as he pecked at her collarbone and continued southbound. His adventurous lips explored her plush mounds and his tongue lashed at her stiffened little peaks. Further still he descended, kissing every pectoral and sealing his lips for several agonizing moments against her navel before releasing her with a pop and descending even lower… His lips brushed the pink rim of her panties…

Then he raised himself up, tugging her by the hip and turning her onto her belly again. His lips rose and found her shoulder, starting the descent all over again.

"_Dammit, _Sasuke…" Sakura whined with frustration, her shoulders rising as he ran his tongue down the rim of her shoulder blade to kiss at the center of her back.

A soft trail of teasing kisses traced its way down to the small of her back, and when Sasuke stopped again, Sakura gave him a pouty glare over her shoulder.

"You're so difficult."

"That makes one of us," came the smug reply, and Sakura rolled her eyes before looking forward again, tilting her chin up and attempting to seem blasé and unaffected by the feeling of her panties sliding down to the middle of her thigh. She didn't squirm or moan against the caress of his fingers against the round, supple arc of her rear, nor the tickle of his talented lips against her flesh. In her pouting state of faux disinterest, she missed the rare gleam of genuine amusement in Sasuke's eyes.

Her teeth dug gently into her bottom lip once that last garment was taken away and tossed over her head onto the pillows in front of her. Her own aroused scent on her panties aroused her even further, and it was breaking her down. She had to give up once he turned her over again to stare at her face. As always, she couldn't hold her excitement down for long. Every nerve tingled with anticipation, which grew stronger and more electric with each short inch of distance closed between her waiting lips and his. When Sasuke's face finally disappeared between her legs, the tormented orgasm that had been boiling in her core finally found its trigger.

All in one moment, pure heat washed over her like a flood, boiled to perfection and stinging her every nerve with much-needed bliss. Her eyes closed, her toes curled again, and her hands found themselves fisted into the sheets beneath them as Sasuke drew her out relentlessly. The urge to scream almost overpowered her reluctance to potentially disturb Sarada. The last thing she wanted was their daughter walking in on them wondering what was going on… A hissed groan filled with all the same emotion would have to do.

Even though he knew her body best, it still amazed Sakura how perfect Sasuke was at making love to her. Every move seemed to be planned and calculated toward her reactions and her eventual peaks. His torture was unbearable, but the release that came from it was unimaginable. And he knew _just_ how to draw that release out for as long as possible.

By the time she came down from her heated high, she was panting and shivering and sensitive all over, and he lifted his head, looking right into her eyes as he crawled forward enough to loom above her again. His lips came down upon hers, he readied himself as she savored her own flavor as well as his. Thankfully for Sarada, the scream that fell from Sakura's lips as he slid inside of her was muffled by his stifling lips.

He let out his own little groan as he pulled back slightly, both their chests rising and falling as Sasuke grabs the sheets, pulling them up over their heads and hiding their love from the dimming candlelight. There was comfort in the darkness, and a greater sense of feeling in the absence of sight. The writhing sheets and the sensual moans and groans and gasps did not go still until the candles went dark, the rain went quiet, and the realization finally hit the sweat-slicked housewife.

He was home again.

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**Thanks again for reading, guys. I really hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I planned for this to just be a one-shot, but if you'd like for me to keep going with this, let me know in a review! I cherish feedback in all forms, so don't be afraid to leave me a few kind words! Or criticism, if you didn't like it! I'm always trying to get better at writing stuff like this, and I think this might be the best work I've written in a while. :P I can always improve, though, so if there's something you see I may need to work on, tell me!**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your**

**Hearts beat with**

**Calamity!**


	2. Silent Rows

**Welcome back! I decided I didn't want it to end here, and after seeing how many views this story got almost immediately, I figured, why not keep this going for as long as I can? :P**

**Right now, I don't have a linear storyline really planned for this. I have a couple more chapters in mind, and hopefully, I'll come up with more to keep the story going soon. But if you have any suggestions or ideas for what you'd like to see, don't be afraid to leave them in a review.**

**Not a lot of sexy-times in this chapter, unfortunately~ Maybe next time!**

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It was as if the sun was livid and offended by last night's heavy storm. The bright rays of morning light that streamed in through the windows filled the master bedroom and seemed to cast a natural spotlight upon the coupled mass under the sheets. Sasuke, who wasn't a morning person, frowned at the harshness of the light and the stuffy warmth it delivered. He shifted slightly in his light sleep, which made the woman spooned in front of him groan very softly and shift a little bit as well.

Hearing her voice coaxed one of Sasuke's eyes open, and he simply stared for a very long few moments at the back of his wife's vibrant pink head, her bare shoulder and the beautiful outline of her scapula along her back, and that rosy little mark that would stay there for quite some time. The other eye opened, and Sasuke slowly leaned in to rest his forehead against the back of her head and drew in the scent of stale sweat and last night's hot sex around them both, mixed with Sakura's typical flowery aroma.

They both needed a bath, and when Sasuke finally managed to convince himself that there were more important things to do today than lay down and admire the perfect sight before him, that's what he decided he'd do first.

"Sakura…" he muttered as he closed his eyes and let out a soft and tired sigh. He was proud to say she'd taken a lot out of him last night, but was not too proud to admit that he was feeling sluggish because of it. Sasuke didn't like to feel weak in anyway, especially not in front of Sakura. Or behind Sakura, as is the case.

Finding time to search for Lee and train for a while with him became another activity on his to-do list. And as he thought about it and woke himself up more, other things began to come to mind as well. Heading toward the Academy to visit Naruto in his office and let him know he's here. Visiting Hinata at the Hokage Residence to say hello to her, Bolt, and Himawari. Restocking a few supplies at Tenten's weapon shop. Shopping at Yamanaka Flowers for another single item to leave in the glass vase on the dining room table before he left again. Wondering when Sakura would finally notice that slowly-growing bouquet on the dining room table…

Sasuke was putting quite a lot on his plate for _today's_ to-do list. But it was necessary, he felt. If he didn't get everything done right away, the things he didn't get done would be on his mind until he _did_ get them done, distracting him from his much-missed time spent with his wife and daughter.

Sakura, by the way, barely stirred at Sasuke's voice. When the short spell of tiredness had passed, Sasuke tried again. He didn't raise his volume, but he did bring his hand up to rest on her shoulder and give her a small shake.

"Sakura."

"Sasuke…"

"Get up."

"No…"

Hearing his wife's cranky whines never failed to make Sasuke smile slightly, and he sighed, kissing her shoulder before slipping away from her and sitting up to sit on the edge of the bed. He glared at the bright sunlight before standing up completely.

"I'm going to run a bath," he said to her simply, to which she responded with a low groan. As he walked across the master bedroom toward their connected bathroom, it finally occurred to Sasuke's tired mind that he took quite a bit out of her last night, as well. It only slightly curbed his annoyance at his own sluggishness, but at least the two of them could be weak together.

Sasuke quickly familiarized himself with the bathroom again, reaching over the tub and twisting both faucets. The gush of water filling the tub reminded him of just how annoying it was fighting through flooded acres of forestry and wind-whipped plains to get home last night. It wasn't all bad, however. The look of pure joy on his daughter's tired face when he stirred her awake to tell her he was here more than made up for his troubles. And sleeping with his wife was the hot and sticky pink strawberry icing on the cake.

Once the warm bath was three-quarters full, he twisted the faucets to stop the flow, and stepped back into the bedroom. Sakura had fallen fast asleep again. Sasuke pulled the covers from over her curled-up naked form and lifted her into his arms, carefully propping her head against his shoulder and carrying her bridal-style into the bathroom. He stepped into the tub first, lowering both himself and his wife into the tepid bath with him sitting with his back against one rim of the tub, and her lying on top of him.

The moment she touches the water, Sakura's eyes shot open and she gasped, grasping at Sasuke's shoulders for support. Her face immediately went rose-red as she looked around and tried to comprehend what was going on, and when she was finally able to calm herself and focus on Sasuke, she pouted.

"Yes, it was necessary," he said before she could ask, and he circled his arms around her hips to draw her a bit closer to him, enough for her to rest her forehead on his, for bright emerald to meet deep onyx for a long and silent few moments. This was how Sasuke said 'I love you', without speaking the words. The word 'love' never tasted very well on his tongue. He'd only said it a few times in his life, to his parents, and ever since the massacre, the word crumbled completely from his vocabulary.

His brother's final gesture to him before leaving for the afterlife was to bump their heads together and tell him he'd always love him. And since he could never truly find it in himself to be able to say the word again, this same gesture was what he used to convey that message. It was a common occurrence when it came to his wife and daughter, and he's headbutted Naruto a couple of times as well. They all seemed to understand.

The moment of close stillness between them lasted for several long moments before Sasuke moved first, reaching to grab a washcloth from the rim of the tub, soaking it, and running it against a bar of soap. He tilted his head and leaned in to kiss Sakura deeply as he brought the wet cloth against the back of her neck, gliding it slowly down her spine and over either soft cheek under the water before letting it rise up one of her sides.

"Where have you been this time?" she asked him as he washed them both, the fading tiredness still in her voice.

"The Fire Temple. It's been finished for a while, but I'd never gone to see it."

"Would they let you inside?"

Sasuke nodded. "The monks don't all trust me. But they trust my mission and understand my path. They allowed me to meditate with them, on the condition that I was silent for the length of my stay."

Sakura remained silent for a few moments, deep in thought. "Mm… Where will you go when you leave next week?"

"The Land of Spring. Then the Land of Sound."

Sakura tilted her head. "You're going to see Orochimaru?"

"I'm just going to make sure he kept his word."

The bath fell silent for a long few moments after that. Sakura was never sure exactly what relationship he still had with Orochimaru after all this time, and she knew better than to ask him too much about his business. Despite being mostly open with his wife, there were still some things Sasuke meant to keep to himself.

"When will you be back again?"

"Soon."

"When will you be able to take me with you?"

"You're assuming Sarada would be alright with both of her parents away for however long we'd be away. She needs you with her."

"Well, take us both. That way, she'll have both her parents for a while," Sakura retorted.

Their bath began to draw to a close, and Sasuke took his wife by the hips, guiding her to stand before he did as well.

"You know I can't do that, Sakura. I walk a dangerous road. And before you tell me that we'd be able to protect her, I _know_ we could. But I wouldn't dare shoulder the slightest risk that anything happen to her, and even if we protect her, that risk never goes away."

Sakura lowered her head, but Sasuke immediately curled a finger under her chin to tilt her head back up to look at him. "Is this weighing on you, Sakura?"

"…Well, a little," she sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "I know leaving and traveling is something you feel you have to do to clear your mind and justify yourself, Sasuke, and I'm fine with that. But... once, just _once_, I want to go with you and be by your side for more than a week at a time. That's not wrong, is it?"

Sasuke shook his head as he stepped out of the tub, grabbing two towels and offering one to her. "Not at all. I think about the two of you constantly when I'm away. There's nothing I want more than to stay in the village with you and Sarada and feel comfortable with myself. And I will. Once I've finally defeated this curse."

Sakura wrapped her towel around her body and stepped forward to hug Sasuke tightly. "You have, Sasuke. With Naruto's help, you said that you'd broken your Curse of Hatred."

"Almost. There's one more person that I need to stop hating before I can truly say I've broken the curse, Sakura."

Sakura looked up at her husband with sad, comforting eyes, and he responded by hugging her back tightly.

"My life is filled with darkness. I can't relax for very long. I can't stay in one place for very long, or else depression sets in. Traveling to places I've been before and have wanted to go to, it helps me better come to terms with my darkness, and I hate myself just a little bit less. Someday… Someday _soon_, Sakura, I'll come back to stay for good."

For once, Sasuke became the impatient one, and with a sharp sigh, he cupped Sakura's face and leaned down to press a firm, deep kiss against her lips, unwilling to pull away until she does so first, with a heated blush and a gentle smile.

"That's the most I've heard you say in one breath in a while, Sasuke…"

"Don't get used to it. Let's get dressed."

They dressed themselves in silence, both of them thinking and stewing over what they've told each other. The solemnness in the air eventually faded away with the crisp smell of eggs and bacon on the stove as minutes later, Sakura got to cooking.

She occasionally turned around from her work to look at her husband and her daughter sitting across from each other at the dining room table, one set of powerful onyx eyes staring at the other from behind a pair of pretty red-rimmed glasses. It'd been ten minutes by now, and neither one of them looked as if they were going to budge an inch. Sarada was truly her father's daughter.

She was carefully arranging food on plates when she heard her daughter whine in defeat and her husband chuckle lightly. She smiled as she set the meals down. "Don't pout, you can still beat _me_ in a staring contest, Sarada. Now eat quickly. You have to be at the Academy soon."

"Yes, Mama," Sarada said with a nod, fixing her face and starting on her eggs. It warmed Sakura's heart to see her daughter so cheerful. When her father wasn't around, especially right after he'd left, she always seemed so aloof, and quieter. The whole week her father would come home, you'd be hard pressed to keep a smile off her face, and it amused them both how much she wanted to be like him.

"Can Papa take me to the Academy today?" Sarada asked, once she'd finished her food. Sakura raised a brow.

"Don't you usually want to walk yourself?"

"I do, but Papa's home! I know I'm big enough to go by myself, but pleeeease? Just this once?"

Sakura glanced at Sasuke, who merely offered a shrug. "Mm, why not? Come on."

Sarada jumped up with excitement, walking with her father toward the front door and tugging on his arm. He looked down at her, sighing at her outstretched arms and kneeling down, allowing her to climb up onto his shoulders.

"You're just like your mother sometimes," he comments, glancing back at Sakura. "I'll be back in a minute."

Sakura waved as the left, but as soon as the door closed, she was up and moving toward the window where she stood the previous night, watching the two of them start their way down the caked, muddy village path.

"_There's one more person that I need to stop hating…"_

Sakura gazed longingly at her husband as the fresh memory of that little talk rang out through her mind. Her heart ached at just the thought… Of course, all that darkness wouldn't just leave his life at once. And knowing what she knew now helped her to feel a bit better about his journeys and his mission. Instead of longing for his return when he was absent, she'd do better to look forward to that day when he wouldn't have to be absent anymore.

Sakura smiled gently and closed the curtains before moving away to clean up their plates.

Meanwhile, as Sarada rode on her father's shoulders toward the Academy, she looked around at the busy streets, and was confused. People were staring at them. Coldly. Couples and groups quieted their conversations to watch and murmur as she and her father passed them by. There were angry looks, nervous looks, curious wary looks from the children whose parents tugged them away when they came close.

"…Papa?" Sarada asked, looking down at her father. "Do we look weird? People are staring…"

"Don't worry about it, Sarada," he answered simply.

The young girl pursed her lips and nodded, staring straight ahead and trying to ignore the silent rows that had cleared the street and given them a wide berth, watching them like a two-person parade.

* * *

**Thanks again for reading! I don't know if I'll be able to keep up this pace of daily updates, so don't expect them. The next chapter will be up after I post the next chapter of Could Be Worse, another of my Naruto stories you should check out. It's an AU fic featuring Sarada! **

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your**

**Hearts beat with**

**Calamity!**


	3. Blind

**Originally, this chapter was going to be longer. I had typed out a page and a half of Sasuke going to see Naruto in his office, having the two of them talking for a bit and whatnot. Then I remembered... This is a romance story about Sasuke and Sakura's family life. Incorporating other characters other than Sasuke, Sakura, and Sarada (to the degree I planned on encorporating Naruto into this chapter, at least) would detract from the main idea of this story! I had to start all over at least three times before I was satisfied with what I'd written. I'm still not completely satisfied, for some reason, but I hope you guys enjoy it anyway!**

**Also, I know I said I'd update Could Be Worse before I put up another chapter of Eleven Fifty-Four. Sorry, those of you who are waiting for chapter 3 of that. :( The inspiration hit me for this particular chapter a lot harder. I promise, I'm working on Could Be Worse, as well! The next chapter will be up soon for that. If you haven't read Could Be Worse yet, give it a read!**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Everything was fine after a couple of minutes. The streets got calmer, less crowded, and the few people they passed barely paid them any heed. Sarada could let her shoulders relax again, though she never realized they were tense to start with. Sasuke had been completely unaffected by all the attention he received, and his demeanor didn't shift at all, even after he stopped being a target and returned to being just a father with his daughter on his shoulders, taking her to the Academy.

Her attention soon fell away from the strangeness of that little event, and up toward the looming wall of cold stone faces staring over everyone's head at the far horizon. She'd heard many stories about how all of them, from Hashirama to Naruto, not only had a hand in shaping the Hidden Leaf Village, but the entire shinobi world. Pride and desire filled her heart. Innocent pride that she lived almost literally in the shadow of greatness, and a yearning desire to someday be like them and help the world as well.

Deep thoughts stewed in the young girl's head as Sasuke finally stopped near the school building within the Academy complex and set her down from his shoulders. The little playground out front was filled with young students her age, talking, shouting and playing around as they waited for the doors to open and their instructors to start ushering them inside.

"Be good. I need to go and talk to Naruto," Sasuke told her with a curt nod. Before he could turn to head toward the Academy offices, Sarada caught him by the hand.

"Papa, can I ask you something? Have you ever wanted to be Hokage?"

The question made him pause, and Sasuke took a long moment to think before he turned his head and raised his eyebrow at his daughter.

"I did. A long time ago. But that's a story for when you're older. And I'm glad I didn't eventually become Hokage."

Sarada blinked. "Huh? Why? The Hokage are heroes! You're strong, Papa; couldn't you have been a hero?"

"Sarada, I'll just say that if I became Hokage when I wanted to, I never would've had the chance to have you." He turned back toward Sarada and kneeled, gently cupping the back of her head as he pulled her forward to touch her forehead with his own. "I don't wish for the life I could've had. The life and family I have is all I need. Now be good."

Sarada nodded her head quickly and smiled as she watched her father turn and leave. She gave the Hokage Monument one last longing stare before she made her way toward the schoolyard, quietly fading into the crowd.

Back at home, Sakura was waiting. She wasn't anxiously waiting as she had been last night. This time, she was sure he'd be back, even after he said he'd be back in a minute, and a 'minute' typically turns out to be a couple of hours. Thinking about it, Sakura wished that she had decided to go along with them. Cleaning up the dishes didn't take long at all, and she and Sarada had already made the house almost spotless already. Waiting was really all she could do.

Well…

Sakura's thoughts began to drift as she reclined across her bed after changing the sheets. She stared over at her little bedside table, and crawled slowly toward it to open it and stare at her hardback copy of _Make-Out Hurricane_ that she'd yet to open since receiving it.

Naruto wrote the book three years ago as a tributary successor to his late teacher's old series of erotic romance novels, and its immediate smash-hit success disturbed Sakura quite deeply. The book was paraded as the 'best', the 'sexiest', the 'hottest', and the 'most romantic, action-packed dramedy' to ever carry the Make-Out title. Knowing Naruto for as long as she did, as a lovable, righteous idiot who cared for family, friends, and ramen above all else, the thought of him writing anything similar to or _better than_ Jiraiya's smut work was… nearly unfathomable.

Furthermore, Naruto attributed most of the novel's success to _Hinata _and _Sai_. He claimed he wasn't as eloquent a writer as he was a speaker, and that his wife helped him in large parts with the writing and as a model for the various 'tasteful' illustrations supposedly peppered throughout the work, all hand-drawn by Sai. Each copy of the book had different illustrations in different places throughout the story, and months later, a separate artbook filled with _all_ of Sai's illustrations for the book was released, with similar overwhelming success and reception.

She wanted to read it so badly. What frightened Sakura was the risk of reading it and having her entire perception of reality irreversibly skewed, seeing the people she thought she knew so well in a completely different light. Naruto, Hinata, and Sai. Thinking up, writing, and drawing smut. _Good_ smut. It… No.

Sakura shook her head, slowly reaching for the book and staring at the cover. It featured a woman with long brown hair, sitting up on a bed holding the sheets up to her chest with a silver necktie clutched in one hand. Her head was turned away, and she was looking out of a window, where a massive tornado appeared to be rampaging through a large village. Even without the correct hair color, and being unable to see the woman's face on the cover, Sakura had the creeping suspicion that it _was_ Hinata who was the subject for the art…

She bit her lip, a very slight blush creeping slowly onto her face as she swallowed down her nervousness. It was just a book. Naruto was still Naruto, Hinata was still Hinata, and Sai was still… whatever the fuck he is. None of that seemed to have changed in the three years since they collaborated on the book, so why should it have changed in her mind now?

Steeling her courage, Sakura drew in a deep breath and flipped open the book to begin reading the first chapter…

…

…

It was 8:30 when Sasuke and Sarada had left for the Academy, and it was approaching noon by the time Sasuke finally returned from the various errands he decided he'd run along the way back. He glanced at the clock as he went to go set some of his things down and saw that it was 11:54.

It'd been almost exactly twelve hours since he'd returned, and Sasuke was already more awake and active than he'd ever felt he'd been during his prior visits. Perhaps meditation at the Fire Temple helped him a lot more than he expected it would. Sasuke liked to believe that he was finally being more receptive to his family's happiness to see him again. Either way, he got a lot of things done, and was looking forward to spending a bit more time with his wife.

A quick glance around the quiet house told Sasuke that she wasn't downstairs. As he turned toward the steps though, he paused and stared at a curious little item on the bottom step of the staircase: the red panties he'd watched Sakura put on this morning. And further up the steps was the white sash she took to wearing around her waist.

Sasuke's brow rose slowly, and he shook his head before starting up the stairs and following the trail of his wife's discarded clothing, growing more and more amused and curious as he discovered her bra, her gloves, her trimmed dress, and every other single article of clothing that Sakura had put on, except for her white head wrap, all leading in an obvious trail straight into their bedroom.

Sasuke had a sneaking suspicion that he was walking into some sort of ambush. His sudden urge to mess with Sakura and find where she's _really_ hiding is overpowered by his curiosity about what she's actually planning. So he walked past her hiding place without even a glance, following the trail of clothes into their empty bedroom, and he waited.

"…Gotcha!"

Seconds later, Sasuke's vision was suddenly hidden behind a soft white cloth that covered his eyes and was tied back behind his head. Sasuke was utterly unsurprised, and sighed softly as he spoke.

"Alright, Sakura. What's gotten into you?"

Suddenly reliant on his other senses, Sasuke listened closely to each bare footstep and the click of a lock as Sakura closed the door behind them. More footsteps carried Sakura and her sweet voice around from behind him to before him.

"Well~ I was doing some reading while you were gone, and… I wanted to try something with you that seemed like fun. We're going to see how well you get along in bed without your eyes."

"I would've come upstairs eventually," Sasuke said as he felt the soft warmth of Sakura's hand taking his and guiding him forward, further into their room and toward the bed. "Was the trail of clothes necessary?"

"Of course. I'm naked right now."

Sasuke raised a brow again, chuckling as he reached out to touch her, but had his hand lightly slapped away as he was pushed down to sit on the bed.

"Come on. Is this you getting back at me for last night?"

Sakura huffed, and Sasuke's ears followed her subtle, hushed motions and the light creak of the floorboards underneath her, predicting that she had lowered herself to her knees. When Sakura spoke again, her voice came from a lower position, confirming Sasuke's suspicions.

"J-Just let me have a little fun! You always leave me breathless, Sasuke... I want to try and return the favor for a change."

He tried again to reach out a hand, and she allowed him to run his fingers gently through her soft, washed hair and across her warm cheeks as her hands undid his pants just enough to free him.

Sasuke felt invigorated by her gentle touch, and the long, steady strokes she gave him caused him to groan as he curled his fingers into the sheets and through her hair. He could almost forget how monstrously strong Sakura could be. She could move his heart with her hands just as easily as she could move mountains with them. Sasuke rolled his eyes at his own inner poet and tried to forget everything else as he let his head tilt back and his lips part for a gentle sigh while she coaxed him to full arousal.

He was pleasantly surprised at how refreshing an experience it was to sharpen his other senses and relax his eyes for a change. Sakura was more skilled than he usually gave her credit for, and-

"Nngh…"

Sasuke's mind went blank, and he suddenly tensed as his wife began to get specific where her finger traced, blatantly roaming around that sensitive ring of flesh between his head and shaft. Bells and cymbals crashed together in his mind and sent roaring waves of warmth and ecstasy through his body. He sucked in a breath, briefly tightening his grip on Sakura's hair, but immediately relaxing his hand afterwards.

"Did you know that this is the most sensitive area of the human penis, Sasuke? Even the softest, slowest touch and caress can cause great stimulation… So, tell me. How was your day so far?"

Sasuke groaned helplessly. He'd been caught off-guard, and she refused to let him center himself. Now she was taunting him with questions. He took a deep breath and allowed himself to think for a few moments…

"I went to go talk to Naruto… after I dropped Sarada off at the Academy. He was, nnh… asleep at his desk when I got to him. Apparently, you and I… weren't the only ones who had a long night."

Sasuke could almost sense the evil grin on his wife's face without even seeing it. He could also tell that his attempts at keeping a straight face were starting to wear on him. Every tiny bead of sweat seemed to sting his face and arms, and while he hated it, he loved it at the same time. There was nothing he could do about it, nor did he _want_ to do anything about it.

"Interesting. What did Naruto say? How is he and the family? And where'd you go after that?"

"Mmh… He told me they're all fine… But you knew that already. And I- Agh...!"

Sasuke drew in another sharp breath the moment he felt Sakura's hot breath and smooth tongue work slowly up a steady path and swirled teasingly around his sensitive flesh. His mind froze again, and it took him several moments to recover himself.

"Dammit, Sakura…"

She kissed him lightly before she spoke again. "Come on~ You're almost done! Where else did you go?"

It was only a few moments that had passed, but it felt like minutes of mind-numbing torment for Sasuke. It made him wonder if this was really at all similar to what he'd put her through with his own little forms of teasing… It also made it incredibly difficult for him to truly focus, and it took him several moments longer this time to acknowledge the tight fist he'd curled into Sakura's locks. He loosened his grip again, even though she didn't seem to mind.

He exhaled sharply, forcing words to form and voicing them. "Tenten. I went to go see Tenten. To… buy some equipment… And explosive tags…"

Sakura's wet mouth danced slowly and expertly over every throbbing inch of him that it could reach, and it was slowly driving Sasuke insane. The playful way she flicked her tongue along his frenulum and pressed her lips firmly at his base, stopped and started again without warning or pattern, and asked him to formulate sentences while she did so… He almost couldn't take it. What was worse was that she was keeping him at about his midway point. He knew she wasn't cruel enough to keep him on the verge, but just the thought that this wasn't the worst she could tease him caused him to shiver.

"What do you need explosive tags for, Sasuke?" she asked softly.

"Just in case Orochimaru hasn't kept his word…" He breathed out sharply again. "From there, I went to Yamanaka Flowers."

He said no more, and though he couldn't see it, he could sense the curiosity in Sakura's stare and her slowly rising eyebrow. She didn't speak for a long moment, and when she finally did, her voice had lowered to a whisper, and she blatantly poured hot breath all over him.

"What were you at Ino's for…?"

Sasuke twitched. He brought this upon himself, but he was going to make her work for this one.

"…Nnh… To talk about the weather… The storm crushed some of her garden and muddied the soil…"

"…_Saaaaaaaaaaasukeeeeeeeeee…_" she breathed.

It was clear by then that Sakura had no issues with how tight a grip he had on her hair. Sasuke was clutching so hard that his knuckles had paled considerably, but she didn't make a sound about it. He grit his teeth and refused to bend.

"She told me… She… Ah… Shikamaru and Shikadai are out of town, goin-"

Sasuke stopped suddenly again, as a different feeling overcame him. Not the warmth and wetness of her mouth, or the skilled delicateness of her fingers, but the plush fullness of what could only be his wife's breasts closing around him. They caressed him slowly and compressed him gently, shifting upwards ever so tantalizingly slowl-

"I bought a flower," he grunted suddenly. "A single blue poppy. I was going to put it in the vase on the dining room table before I left. That's what I've been doing since the first time I came back after Sarada's birth."

And the torment stopped. Almost immediately, Sakura gave him his reward, cooing out loudly as she ducked her head down and surrounded him with the full heat and wetness of her receptive, suckling lips. Sasuke couldn't help but heave a groan of pleasure, panting with the boiling frustration of her touching and teasing. He never let go of her hair, guiding her bobbing head until she met the pace that _he _wanted, momentarily dumb to the notions of his roughness or her discomfort.

The sounds her throat made when she accepted him deeply enough, the smell her own arousal drifting into the air, the taste of his dry mouth quickly moistening again nearly to the point of salivation, the feeling of _pure heat_ _and pleasure_ radiating through his entire being at once. He was broken in mere minutes, hissing through his teeth as he held her head down against his lap while he throbbed and jerked and emptied himself, and listened to her swallow every drop.

His mind opened, and as the strength was sapped from him, clarity filled the void. He removed his hand from her head and brought it up to yank the head-wrap blindfold from his face before looking down at his wife, nearly her entire body blushing pink, with one hand gripping the bedsheets while the other rested between her glistening half-open thighs.

"Sakura…" he murmured, letting her head up and tugging her off her knees into his arms. She coughed for a few moments, and it wounded him to hear it. "Sakura, I'm sorry. I went too far; I didn't-"

"Shh…" she murmured, panting in his ear. "Don't worry, Sasuke… I don't get hurt that easily…"

She smirked, reaching for the head wrap to blindfold him again. He sighed, holding her close to him as the both of them rested for a few moments and readied themselves to go again, blissfully unaware that in a grassy field at the Academy, their daughter's glasses had just been slapped off her face, and a group of girls had gathered around to cheer on the ensuing disagreement.

* * *

**If you recognized the name _Make-Out Hurricane_, then you've probably seen the flailing flop that was another attempt at a Naruto story I was doing. xD That scene with Sakura was inspired by that. I'm probably not going to go forward with MOH, and will just delete it soon, probably. I like this story much better. :3**

**Also, the writer's block is starting to kick in. I warned you guys at the start that I wasn't sure exactly how far I was going to take this story if I continued it, since it started off as just a one-shot idea in my mind. I'm approaching the event horizon where I've run low on idea fuel. Hopefully, I can use my big-people brain and a longer plot will come to me. As tempting as it is to just write Sasuke and Sakura in their bedroom all the time, doing all kinds of naughty things... I want to write a story, too! xD**

**Please, if you guys have any suggestions for things you want to see involving the Uchiha family life, feel free to leave them in a review! :P If you _do_ in fact want to see a little more involvement with other characters, like Naruto or some of the girls, or the other next-gen kiddos like Bolt and Hima, let me know. I was uncertain if it was something I really wanted to do with this story, but if people want it, I'll see if I can work with it. :P**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your**

**Hearts beat with**

**Calamity!**

**Till next time!**


	4. Defending My Name

**Aaaaagh, I tore through this chapter faster than the speed of light! :D Again, don't get used to this. Daily updates will never be something I can faithfully commit to.**

**Also, I promise that my next update will be on Could Be Worse. I've been neglecting that one, and I'm sorry again if that's what you're waiting to get updated! D:**

**Enjoy! And try not to laugh immediately.**

* * *

"_Hey, Shino-sensei! You got bugs living inside you, right? Does that mean you teach them how to be… Shino-bees?"_

It'd been almost a whole two hours, and Sarada still couldn't get Boruto's _stupid_ joke out of her head. She wanted to facepalm every time she remembered it. It was hazardous to her concentration, and right now was the worst time to be distracted.

Sarada stood at the midpoint of a low bough on a large tree in the Academy fields, with her teacher and the rest of the Advanced Kunoichi Aptitude students watching her every move as she was currently in the middle of balancing on the branch, trying to make it to a little red flag notched into the bark near the three-quarter mark of the branch. She was almost there… Just a few steps further…

"_Shino-bees?"_

Sarada bit her lip and took a staggered, miscalculated step forward. The branch wobbled in a way she didn't expect, and if she didn't right herself, she'd lose her balance and fall to her death.

That's what she told herself. It wasn't really a long way down... But imagining the risk of death or major injury would help her focus on the situation, she thought.

"_**Shino-bees?"**_

All kinds of swears she'd never have the heart to say out loud were racing through her mind. She bit her lip, refusing to let it get to her, and instead of wasting time teetering, she continued to step forward, hoping that forging ahead would forcefully right her position. Maybe powering through would be the best course of action in this case.

"_**Shino-bees**__**?"**_

"Ahh-haha!"

Sarada slipped, and as she did, she let out a damning yelp-laugh. As she fell from the branch, her fingers lunged forward, brushing against the stiff fabric of the little flag, but unable to grab it, and she plummeted toward the grass below…

…before being stopped suddenly by the firm, cushioning arms of her stern-faced, blank-eyed sensei.

"Getting distracted on a delicate, covert mission is a very easy way to get killed, Sarada. And this goes for everyone else, as well. Your mind must be clear and your concentration must be as sharp as a kunai at all times. You won't always have your sensei around to catch you and keep you from getting hurt, or worse. Work on staying focused, alright? Don't disappoint me again, Sarada."

"Y-Yes, Hanabi-sensei…" Sarada mumbled as she was put down. Hanabi brushed her straight brown hair away from her face, before turning to the rest of the class.

"Alright, I think that's everyo-"

"Auntie, I want to go again!"

Hanabi gave the dark-haired little girl waving her hand in the air a deadpan stare. "…Himawari, you've gone already."

The Uzumaki girl balled her fists confidently as she stared at the tree. "I can beat my time! Can I pleeeeease go again?"

Hanabi sighed sharply and shrugged her shoulders. "Fine. The rest of you can break for recess until the final bell. Let's see you beat your time, little girl."

Sarada smiled as Himawari patted her on the shoulder as she walked by.

"Don't worry, Sarada. You'll make it next time, for sure!"

Sarada nodded and stood to watch as Himawari rushed at the tree and climbed it like a squirrel before skipping across the branch with her arms held out from her sides like a bouncy, hi-speed gymnast. She tapped the flag and hopped down into her aunt's arms.

"3.6 seconds."

"Drats! Alright, let me try again!"

Sarada shook her head. She wished she could have that sort of energy all the time. Even her mirthful demeanor when her father was home paled in comparison to Himawari's permanent state of upbeat hyperactivity. She was incredibly glad that Himawari didn't seem to be adopting any of her older brother's obnoxious, rambunctious behavior…

Speaking of which, Sarada made it her mission to find and scold Boruto over his dumb joke when the day was over. He indirectly embarrassed her in front of her entire AKA class, and she wasn't about to let that stand! Shino-bees… How ridiculous…

Sarada's lips twitched, but she inwardly scolded herself at well. That joke wasn't funny, and she shouldn't have laughed at it. She was partially responsible for her own embarrassment as well. …But it was still mostly Boruto's fault for telling such a stupid, _not-funny_ joke in the first place.

Sarada didn't realize she was being followed until she was pushed from behind. Once again lost in distraction, she couldn't catch herself, and yelped as she tumbled to the grass, streaking her pants and her sweater with grass stains.

"Hey, what'd Hanabi-sensei tell you about staying focused, Salad Girl? How many times are you gonna fall today?"

Sarada shook her head and climbed to her feet, turning to glare at the tall rose-haired girl behind her.

"What do you want, Yumi? Seriously. I don't have any money, and if you want food, you should go ask Chocho. She always has some to share."

The girl sneered and frowned, stepping up to Sarada and poking her in the top of the chest. "You've been in too good a mood today, _Uchiha_. And you're _still _being all aloof and quiet, like you're cool and better than everybody else or something."

Sarada took a step back. "You and your thugs aren't going to bother me, Yumi. I don't even care about the Salad Girl name anymore. You might as well just leave me alone."

Sarada had been dealing with bullies since the start of this semester, and they frustrated her constantly. Her mother had warned her that there was always the chance of her getting picked on, like she was when she was Sarada's age, but the key was to find good friends to hang around.

Sarada glanced around for half a moment. Himawari was still attacking her tree and trying to beat her time, and Chocho had likely gone inside to the cafeteria. She was alone this time. But she wasn't worried. With thoughts of her father being home again, she felt like she could stand up to anything. A good Hokage has to learn how to be brave in the face of adversity, after all.

So Sarada put her hands on her hips and gave Yumi a defiant look. The bully huffed and put on a smug look. "Oh, I see. You think you're a big girl now that your crook of a father is showing his face again."

Something in Sarada's brain tensed. "You shut up about my Papa. He's a hero," came her instant response, and her fists balled up in sudden irritation.

Other girls close by in the field had started to take notice of the confrontation, and were beginning to gather and watch from some distance away. Yumi, realized that she had struck a nerve, grinned and pressed onward, stepping forward and pushing Sarada by the shoulders. She staggered a step back, but held most of her ground.

"Hero? That's not what my dad said. He said that the Uchihas are nothing but crooks. Do you even know what your dad's done? He defected from the village when he was younger, to become a criminal. He murdered the Hokage Candidate, Danzo, before the Fourth Great Ninja War started, and tried to kill the other Kage, and a lot of other people, as well."

"That's not true! Shut up!" Sarada yelled, trembling with anger now. "My Papa's a good person! He's friends with the Hokage, and he helped to win that war!"

Yumi shook her head. "Tsk. So stupid. Whatever your dad may have done, he's still responsible for helping to spark that war in the first place. And not only that, I heard the rest of the Uchiha were just as bad, too. They started the war, and years ago, they tried to overthrow the Leaf Village's government before they were all taken out. If the Uchiha are such 'good people', then why are they all dead?"

Something snapped. An anger that Sarada never imagined she could feel welled up in her chest. She had lost control of herself, and without even trying to hold back or stop herself, she swung a fist, and tried to swing and slam Yumi right in the jaw. The bully ducked, and Sarada's punch sailed over her head and struck one of the other two girls instead, knocking her down.

Yumi quickly retaliated with a solid slap across the side of the head that sent Sarada's glasses spiraling off her face and into the grass somewhere. In a normal state of mind, she would fold under the pain of her ringing ear and her blobby vision. But Sarada was beyond pissed. She swung and clawed, yelled and yanked hair, blindly attacking Yumi, who fought back just as violently.

The gathered crowd of girls erupted into cheers and chants of "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Sarada and Yumi eventually tripped over each other's feet and tumbled into the grass, rolling around and wrestling while the other bully who didn't get punched took every opportunity she could to kick Sarada while she was down on the ground.

Everything happened in about thirty seconds, but it felt much shorter to Sarada. One moment, she was rolling blindly in the dirt. The next, she was on top of Yumi, mercilessly punching at her head and face while the bully tried to defend herself with her hands. The next, she was being forcibly yanked up, her teacher's angry yelling and Himawari's frantic yelps muffled in her ears. Sarada continued to yell and swing her fists even after her and Yumi had been separated, but a swift and firm prod to the soft spot between her neck and shoulder sent everything to blackness.

…

…

Another nap, another bath, another well-spent few moments of idleness just staring at her as she slid a fresh new pair of panties up her legs. All was right with Sasuke's world. Presently, at least. He made his way downstairs after kindly informing his wife that she needed to pick up after herself, stepping over all the articles of clothes she'd discarded, as per her 'plan'.

And with his little gestures revealed, he thought to himself that he might as well put the blue poppy in the vase now instead of saving it somewhere until he left again. Despite the carnal agitation he felt when she teased and taunted him, he felt refreshed and satisfied with their little blindfold game, and he told himself he'd find out what 'reading' she'd been doing to come up with that.

As Sakura had come down the stairs to start picking up her clothes, a brief knock sounded at the door. She certainly couldn't have answered the door with a pair of panties in her hand, so she silently shooed Sasuke over to answer it while she 'picked up after herself' as he'd asked.

Sasuke shook his head and sighed as he went to answer the door, opening it to find the stern face of the co-head of the Hyuga Clan staring up at him.

"Sasuke," she said curtly with a nod.

"Lady Hanabi," Sasuke acknowledged just as curtly. "Is there something you need?"

"The Lord Hokage sent me to fetch you and Lady Sakura. There's been a little bit of an incident. An altercation between your daughter and another student."

And Sasuke's mood took a turn for the concerned. He repeated the Hyuga's message to his wife, and the two of them rushed immediately to the Academy with Hanabi, their thoughts racing as they eventually came to the Hokage's office, and entered to find their daughter sitting in one of the chairs in the large room, her clothing streaked with grass stains, her hair a mess, her cheeks reddened, her lip swollen, and her glasses nowhere to be seen. The girl sitting in the chair far across from her was in worse shape.

The Hokage himself sat behind his desk, fingers steepled and blond brows furrowed with concern.

"Sorry," he started. "I didn't think I'd need to call you back here so soon, Sasuke. I was just trying to figure out what happened here, is all. As I told you, Sarada's one of my best students, with a spotless record to her name. It hurts a bit that something like this happened only a couple hours after I said that. She said she wouldn't say anything unless you came."

"She's a delinquent! This is how it starts, and it'll end with her going down the same dark the rest of the Uchiha have gone," grumbled Yumi's father with crossed arms.

"How _dare_ you! Don't ever talk about my daughter or her family like that!" Sakura retorted loudly.

An argument sparked, and while Naruto attempted to calm everyone down, Sasuke didn't even seem to notice. He looked right at Sarada, and the anger that was etched into her expression as she sat silently and stared ahead… It was too familiar. Too much like his old self. His daughter finally squinted over at him, an almost… wary look in her deep, dark eyes.

"Is… Is it true, Papa? Were you really a criminal? Did… Did you really kill people and have a hand in the war? Did… Was our family evil?"

Sasuke could tell immediately that whatever Sarada had been told was blatant lies mixed with painful truth. As ignorant as she was to his past, though, she couldn't tell the difference, and it all hit her the same. No matter what Sasuke said, his daughter may never look at him the same way again.

"We'll talk about that at home, Sarada…" he sighed. "I need you to tell Naruto the truth."

She only looked at him a moment, before her scowl melted into a crushed expression, and she turned her head again.

"Yumi and her friends have been picking on me for months, but I never did anything about it, because she couldn't bother me all that much anyway. I won't deny it, I threw the first punch, but only because she was saying nasty things about Papa and the Uchiha Clan. I… I was just defending my name. I hit one of the girls hard enough to knock her down, and Yumi and her other friend were hitting and kicking me."

Naruto nodded slowly. "And Himawari's black eye?"

Sarada's brows rose and she blinked. "W-What? Hima got hurt? I-I didn't… I don't know. My glasses came off, and I couldn't see. And I was angry so I couldn't think straight… I-I… I think I was swinging when Hanabi-sensei pulled me up. I-I guess I might have hit her accidentally… If I did, I didn't mean it, I swear! I'd never want to hurt your daughter!"

Naruto nodded again, and turned his blue gaze to Yumi. "Is that the truth?"

Yumi opened her mouth to speak, but paused as she caught three ruthless glares from the other side of the room. Gulping, she closed her mouth again and just nodded at Naruto.

"Y-Yeah," she mumbled.

The Hokage closed his eyes and took a deep, calm breath. "I'll speak with Himawari and a couple of others who witnessed it, but I'm afraid it looks like I'll have to suspend the both of you from the Academy for the rest of the week, to give you some time to cool off and think a bit about what transpired. Hopefully, nothing like this will happen again, right?"

Yumi nodded her head quickly, and Sarada responded with a single nod. She looked down at the floor as Naruto dismissed them, and walked between her parents as they led her out of the office, lost in thought.

* * *

**Did you laugh immediately at the start of the chapter? I bet you did. :3**

**Thanks again for reading, guys. I got this done right before my afternoon class, so I'm super-stoked. This story absolutely explodes with views every time I update it, and it's mindboggling that I get almost 40 emails within twelve hours about people favoriting, following, and reviewing! Thanks so much, guys!**

**I wish I knew the formula for enticing readers to leave their thoughts more. Chapter three has over 400 views, but only 4 reviews. Come on, guys! Share your thoughts with me! Pleeeeeeeease? I'll give you cookies!**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your**

**Hearts beat with**

**Calamity!**

**Till next time! (: :)**


	5. Focus

**I tried, guys. I reeeeeally tried. D: As much as I really really want to work on Could Be Worse and finish the TWO DAMN CHAPTERS I have left of it, I just can't overcome my desires to see this story through for as long as it goes! I got through about half of the third chapter of CBW before I decided, 'Dammit, I _have_ to keep going with Eleven Fifty-Four!'**

**And here we are.**

**This chapter's a bit shorter than the others. Not a lot happens. The next chapter will be a lot longer, and I'll need to flex my inner Sasuke-kun as much as possible for the soul-stirring father/daughter moment that will probably happen next chapter, if I do it right. Hopefully, it works out how I want it to. Deep talks have never really been my forte, but I'll try my best!**

* * *

The stories soaked into Sarada's mind like blood in a linen shirt, and half the time, she could hardly believe what she was hearing. Besides the little she'd been introduced to through lectures in the Academy, Sarada knew very little about the Last Great Ninja War and next to absolute nothing about any of the events prior. The ninja world's dark past was not something that was typically discussed in detail with Academy students.

The most Sarada could recall on a dime was that it was a fantastic battle, where instead of the Great Countries fighting against one another, all of them came together. All nine of the Tailed Beasts came together, into one monstrous creature under the thrall of the criminal Akatsuki organization, backed by legions of clones and the reanimated bodies of the ninja world's greatest heroes. That was what Sarada had been told.

What she hadn't been told was that her father, for a while, worked on the same side as the orchestrators of the war: two other Uchihas. She hadn't been told that these other two Uchihas had been the cause of hardship for the Leaf Village for quite some time. She hadn't been told that many years _before_ the war, her uncle, under orders, erased their strength, and turned an entire clan into a single family name.

She had never known the darkness and hatred that blackened her father's youth and was an inherent corruption in the heart of almost every Uchiha who ever lived. It may have been inherent in hers. It may have awakened today when she flew into a rage at Yumi.

Sarada wasn't angry at her parents for not telling her. If she was in their position, she wouldn't tell her child anything about this, either. Her perception had been skewed. For years, she saw her father as the cool and powerful hero who helped to save the world, and in her head, she thought he traveled around for long periods of time in order to keep the world safe. A roaming savior. Now she knew, he used to be a criminal, obsessed with power, consumed by hatred, who sided with evil and murdered to achieve his ends, who almost killed Naruto, who completely deserted her mother for years throughout their youth.

She knew very well that her father was a good person now. His change of heart was genuine. But even though that was the case, Sarada simply could not think about her father anymore without also thinking about all these other things that he was involved in. And she could not think of the Uchiha name without also thinking about all the other things _they_ were involved in.

And therein lied the horror, when Sarada finally understood how almost all of the rest of the village felt. Her father's friends, his wife, his daughter, they all could easily forgive him, accept his changes, and love him. Sarada still loved her father, and that would never change. But the people who suffered from the war, who _didn't_ know Sasuke closely… No matter how good Sasuke was, he would never be fully trusted, or fully liked, anywhere.

And because of her name and her lineage, neither would she.

"I'm… I'm gonna go to bed," Sarada said at three in the afternoon, after a long few moments of silent thinking with a blank face.

"Sarada, wait," Sakura sighed. "You have to understand, your father-"

"I understand, Mama. I'm not angry at Papa. I still love him. I just need to be alone and think about this. I'll come down for dinner."

The absolutely dismal, brittle, and flat tone of her daughter's voice absolutely shattered Sakura's heart. She'd seen Sarada get moody and quiet at times when her father wasn't around, but _never_ like this. Just listening to her and watching her slump quietly up the steps brought tears to her eyes. Sasuke laced his fingers together and sighed, his eyes closed and his lips turned in a frown.

"What should we do?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke shook his head. "There's nothing we can do but wait. Ignorance was bliss. Now that Sarada knows these things, she may never be the same. The first few days are always the hardest. Once she's fully come to terms with what she's learned… we'll see how it affects her from now on."

Sasuke opened his eyes and looked over to see Sakura just standing, her head bowed and her eyes teary. He stood and walked toward her to wipe her eyes and set a hand on her shoulder. "Sakura, this was bound to happen eventually."

"She's innocent, Sasuke... She's never been on a mission, she's never seen a corpse, she's never had to actually _use_ a weapon seriously… Now she's disillusioned about you, and she's disillusioned about the Uchiha name. No nine-year-old should have to think about what Sarada's upstairs thinking about right now. I wish… this hadn't happened so quickly, is all…"

Sasuke simply nodded, and his other hand crossed over her shoulder and pulled her toward him into a gentle embrace.

Upstairs, Sarada stared at the ceiling until the sky was orange, picking idly at her bandages and trying not to move around too much, as the physical soreness was just starting to set in along with the mental soreness. Many emotions swirled about at once in her mind: slightly-smug satisfaction that she did more damage to Yumi than she did to her, overwhelming regret that in her rage, she hurt one of her best friends, confusion and anxiety over what she'd just been told, and what it implied…

"Hey! Hey, Sarada!"

…And now bitter annoyance. Sarada's face almost reflexively twisted into an irritated sneer as she rolled over on her bed to see Boruto standing on the sill of her window, knocking on the glass with one hand… and holding her glasses in the other. The young Uchiha blinked, jumping to her feet immediately and opening the window.

"My glasses! I'd- …I'd almost forgotten about these," she said, blinking and considering how surreal it was that today was so life-tilting that she'd completely foregone the fact that her vision was hazy.

Boruto handed them over, setting his hands on his head as he balanced coolly on the sill. "Yeah, Hima said she picked them up and tried to put them on you to calm you down. Y'know, during that fight. She had them, and asked if I could take them to you."

Just the mention of Himawari made Sarada's heart swell, and her response is immediate. "Can you tell her I'm sorry? I seriously didn't mean to hurt her or give her a black eye! How is she? Will her eye get better?"

The speed at which Sarada's face went from stern and irritated to surprised and thoughtful, to somber and emotional made Boruto laugh, and brought Sarada's expression in a full circle, right back to stern and irritated.

"Ah, don't worry about Hima! She told me to tell you she's fine, and she doesn't blame you or nothing." Boruto tilted his head and lifted a brow. "What about you? You alright?"

"Um…" Sarada blinked, then shrugged. "I… I guess. I'll be fine. Just some scrapes and bruises and a suspension."

Suddenly, Sarada remembered, and swung her fist forward to punch Boruto right in the knee with an enraged "CHA!"

"AGH! Owowowow, what was that for?! Aaaaaah…" Boruto hissed as he jerked and hopped on one foot on Sarada's windowsill.

"For telling that stupid Shino-bee joke today, you idiot! You embarrassed me in front my kunoichi class by making me mess up an exercise by laughing!"

"Hey, _you_ laughed! I just told a funny joke! It's not my fault!"

"Joking around in the middle of class is inappropriate! We're even now, though." Sarada huffed and crossed her arms. "Tch… Well, thanks for bringing my glasses. Now get out of here, you dope."

Boruto grumbled as he rubbed his knee. "This is what I get for being nice! I hope they're crooked!" he huffed before performing a hand sign and disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Sarada slid her glasses slowly back onto her face and brought everything into focus once again. She blinked, staring out at the beautiful village and the sunset in the distance. She thought about Hima, about Chocho, Shikadai, and Inojin, and even about Boruto… And she smiled.

Then she frowned. Her glasses _were_ a little bit crooked now.

…

…

Besides a brief little announcement about Sarada's glasses when she came downstairs, dinner was mostly quiet. Even though the shadow of despair had left Sarada's face, she wasn't exactly in the most talkative mood, and it reminded Sakura a lot of how Sarada behaved when her father wasn't around. And since Sarada was always the one to start conversations at dinner, her quietness was contagious.

The calm silence lasted long after the orange evening faded over into dusky, cloudy night. Sarada had been tucked soundly away into her room, and her parents laid together in their own bed, Sakura laying atop her husband with her head on his chest, while he rested against the headboard and slowly ran his fingers through her hair.

"I'll take her somewhere tomorrow," he murmured quietly, finally chipping the silence. Sakura turned her head enough to look up at him and nod.

"That'll be nice… Can I go with you two?"

"Day after tomorrow, it'll be you and me. Then the day before I leave, I'll take you both somewhere."

Sakura nodded, and began to trace Sasuke's musculature slowly with one finger. "Do you know where you're taking her?"

Sasuke nodded. "His memorial. I don't know where I'm taking you yet, exactly." Sasuke's eyes slowly began to drift toward the upper corners of his vision in thought before returning to her. "It'll be somewhere nice."

Sakura blushed, gazing over at the window for a moment. "And all three of us?"

Sasuke shook his head and smiled. "That's a surprise."

Her eyes seemed to gleam in the darkness as she crawled a little further up Sasuke's body, bringing her soft, blushing face close to his own. "Just a hint, then…?"

Sasuke peered deeply into his wife's eyes before lifting his hands to her face. He cupped her cheeks and tilted her face toward his before he slowly leaned in to press his lips gently against her own. Sakura's eyes slowly closed, and neither of them moved. No depth, no tongue, no lusty moans, just a long, hushed moment of tender connection, with the smallest smack of the lips as he pulled away and gently whispered,

"No."

Sakura sighed and pouted, leaning up just a bit more to touch her forehead against Sasuke's before going back to resting her head on his chest, closing her eyes to sleep. He stayed awake to stare at her for several minutes longer before sleep claimed him as well.

* * *

**There you have it! Hopefully, the brevity doesn't make the chapter suffer. If it does, don't worry. The length of the next chapter will make up for it. And I've decided to go all in and incorporate some other characters to play with Sakura while Sasuke and Sarada are off having their emotional adventure to 'his memorial', wherever that is. :3 Who do you think Sasuke's gonna take Sarada to see?!**

**Thanks for reading, you guys. I adore every view and review, and I thank you guys for keeping this story pumping! As of now, this story is less than two weeks old, with nearly _5000_ views! Thanks so much!**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your**

**Hearts beat with**

**Calamity!**

**Till next time!**


	6. Blank Slate

**This took a really long time to work through and get done! It's the longest chapter of Eleven Fifty-Four, and I'm very veeeeeeery proud of it! I hope you will be, too! Enjoy!**

* * *

Sakura woke up fairly early the next morning to discover that her husband and daughter had already left. After quickly getting dressed, making a small meal for herself, and locking up everything in the house, Sakura departed as well, leaving the proud estate empty for the day. In the past few days, with her on temporary leave from the hospital, the only excuse she had to leave the house was to go to the Academy right after Sarada had gotten in trouble for fighting. A few minutes of pure lonesome quietness inspired Sakura to use today to get outside and spend some time with her friends.

Yamanaka Flowers was just a short walk away, and sure enough, Sakura could see her friend sitting idly behind the counter with no customers. The two of them locked eyes as Sakura opened the door and caused the bell hanging above it to chime and announce her entrance.

"Don't talk to my husband," Sakura said immediately as she pointed at Ino and approached the counter.

Ino responded with a loud scoff and a roll of her eyes. "Please! Your husband talked to me! And watch your tone; jealousy isn't good for the flowers."

Sakura smirked and leaned on the countertop the same unmannered way that Ino was doing, prompting the blonde to self-consciously rise to stand correctly. "How are you, Ino? The place smells different."

Ino shrugged and nodded over to the pots and baskets of various colored flowers sitting at the window sill. "Oh, I'm fine. Some new items came in today. I was excited for people to come in and maybe comment on them, because I really like them, but it's been a pretty slow morning… What do you think about them? A couple of rare lilies and some beautiful new colors of poppies I haven't seen before!"

"Eh… They're alright. Just flowers; nothing special." Sakura commented with a shrug, before chuckling at Ino's offended expression.

"Ugh, fuck you! Why do I ask you about flowers anyway?"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! They're really nice. Maybe I'll buy some another time."

Ino's furrowed brow relaxed, and she crossed her arms before giving Sakura a curious look. "I heard yesterday evening about what happened at the Academy from a couple of customers whose kids told them. Is Sarada alright?"

Thinking about it made Sakura sigh, and she nodded. "It's complicated. She'll be fine, I think. She got suspended, though. Right now, she's off with her father somewhere."

Ino turned her head to smile brightly and wave at a couple of regulars as they passed by the window. They waved back, but didn't enter, and Ino's mood wilted. "Eh… Kids these days, am I right? I'm glad Inojin's so well-behaved, even if his 'helpful' advice is starting to wear on me. Literally _every_ time he catches me eating a sweet, he pokes my stomach and reminds me of how _fat_ I'd get if I eat too many, and how _fatness_ is appropriate for the Akimichi, not the Yamanaka, and how if I get too _fat_, I'll get lazy like Chocho. He tries to be subtle about it, but he's as smooth as his father. Fat, fat, fat, fat, fat! Makes me wanna just… _Nnrgggh…_"

Ino held her hands together to strangle the air before she sighed. Sakura looked slightly offended.

"Hey, Sarada's still well-behaved. It's not like she _started_ the fight, she was provoked. Anyway, come on."

Ino blinked and tilted her head. "What? I'm working."

Sakura moved toward the window to flip the little sign hanging there from 'Open' to 'Closed'. "You're taking the day off. We're long overdue for another girls' day out. See if you can reach the others and tell them to meet us here. You have a little café out back, right?"

Ino let out a long sigh and made a hand sign. "Oh, sure, fine…"

…

…

Sarada rubbed her tired eyes as she rode on her father's shoulders. Every time she turned her head, she saw the gates of the Village getting smaller and smaller, sinking further and further away from view, until it was swallowed by the trees behind them. Sarada had never been outside the Village walls, let alone this far away from them, and the thought of actually traveling with her father somewhere both frightened and excited her.

Sarada knew very well why she'd never gone on a trip with him before. He told her outright that the places he visited were dangerous, and that one mistake or sliver of bad luck could mean the end. And skipping school for a month at the least was unacceptable. If he was taking her out with him now, either he finally thought she was old enough and skilled enough to handle it, or the place he was taking her wasn't all that dangerous. Sarada suspected the latter.

"Papa, where are we going again?" she asked with a soft sigh to ease her nerves as she rested her arms on the top of his head.

"You'll see," he told her. "It's a place where, hopefully, you'll be able to feel better about who you are, and not see your own family name in such a red light. It's not far. We'll be back by your bedtime."

Sarada blinked, surprised that this was going to be an all-day trip. Even more nervous excitement pattered in her heart as she wondered just where they were going. She'd forgotten about the Village gates she couldn't see behind her, and her eyes kept forward, half-expecting to find an amazing glowing cave or sky-reaching mountain path they'd have to trek past.

"Do you have fun when you're traveling, Papa?" she asked him, unable to bite back her curious questions. He took quite a few moments before answering.

"I wouldn't say… 'fun'. At least not how you might see it. The places where I go may not really seem exciting to you, Sarada. But I do _enjoy_ the trips I take."

"What's the difference between finding it fun and enjoying it?"

"Fun is for the moment. Enjoyment sticks with you," Sasuke explained in a simple tone. "You can see fun on someone's face, but you can feel enjoyment in your heart. I rarely have fun anymore. But I'm always finding more and more things to enjoy. Like spending time with you and your mother."

Sasuke reached up to tap his fingers lightly against his daughter's forehead, smiling softly as she chuckled at the gesture.

…

…

The only thing better than relaxing in a beautiful-smelling outdoor café on a quiet, sunny morning was doing so with friends. Sakura was already well on her way to shedding all of her cares as she sipped herbal tea and tried to cheer up her glum blonde friend and encourage her that business could pick up tomorrow.

"We all have our slow days and our off days. There are some times when I'm absolutely bogged down with things to take care of at the hospital. It's not really all that fun."

"It sure _sounds_ fun!" Ino whined in retort. "I _wish_ I could be bogged down with things to do in my shop, Sakura! You don't understand how fucking _boring_ it is to stand at the counter for sometimes hours, looking out the windows and silently begging people to come in and browse. We need to swap jobs one of these days. I'm an alright medical ninja. I'm sure it'd be a nice challenge to fill in for you while you stand in my quiet little shop doing _nothing._"

Sakura snickered, her eyes glancing off toward the road. "That's an interesting idea. I might just take you up on it. Oh, they're coming!"

Sakura smiled and gave a beckoning wave toward the three women approaching the little café gate, lifelong friends, like Ino, who she'd kill for and die for.

Karui, who she'd only just recently gotten to know and get along with, was wearing her typical black dress down to her ankles, her vivid red hair slicked back and waist wrapped with a white sash. Her amber eyes sparkled with their usual utter contentment. She reminded Sakura of Shikamaru and Ino at times, and smiled as she figured that was part of the reason Choji was so drawn to her.

Along with Karui was Tenten, also in her typical attire, a white qipao dress trimmed red with fire and dragon details. She looked… amusingly similar to Ino today, in terms of facial expression and demeanor, and Sakura could guess that it was for the same reasons: a slow business day. Or in Tenten's case, yet _another_ slow business day. People just weren't that interested in weapons in this peaceful day and age.

Between the two of them was Hinata, in all her beauty. It continued to amaze Sakura how much Hinata had matured over the years from an unnoticeable wallflower to someone who could walk with such a looming grace and serenity. She was also typically dressed, a long white blouse with flowing sleeves worn underneath a lavender dress that ended at her knees, with blue pants and simple sandals.

"Hello~ Glad you could make it out here to entertain Sakura's loneliness in the absence of her hubby today," Ino greeted their friends as they step past the gate. Hugs and greetings were shared once again before everyone took their seats at the table, except for Ino.

"I'll be back! Fetching more tea!" she called out as she headed back toward her flower shop.

"Sasuke's gone again already?" Tenten asked, trying to put on a better face and lifting her brow curiously. "He was just at my shop yesterday. I was _so_ happy!"

"Has it gotten to the point where he's your only customer yet, Tenten?" Karui asked with a smirk, and Tenten's attempt to look better melted right back into a perturbed, exhausted frown.

"Ugh, not yet, but it might as well have… No one wants to buy anything except for the occasional guy who wants self-protection, or Sasuke restocking once every month and a half… Naruto occasionally throws me a bone and tries to get other countries to outsource their particular weapons needs to me, which I greatly appreciate. But at the end of the day… I'm in the wrong business right now."

Tenten groaned and leaned forward to thump her head on the table as Ino returned with a platter of more cups and a steaming teapot. Hinata reached across to gently pat her whining friend on the shoulder.

"It's alright, Tenten. I… can't exactly wish that something will happen that will earn you more business. That would literally be asking for trouble... But I do hope that you can eventually be happy."

Tenten whined again, and Sakura laughed lightly as she sipped her tea.

"Sasuke hasn't really left yet, by the way. He's just gone out on a little trip with Sarada. They should be back tonight. And I'll see if I can send Sasuke your way again before he leaves, to get extra supplies for the road just in case."

"Thank you…" Tenten sighed, then lifted her head again. "I envy you guys. I really do. You either have a fulfilling profession _and _a good husband, like Sakura and Karui, or you have a good husband to make up for your lack of a fulfilling profession, like Ino and Hinata. I have neither!"

Ino blinked. "What are you trying to say, Tenten?! You think my job's unfulfilling?!"

"Speeeeeaking of Sarada…" Hinata interjected with a nervous smile, trying to change the subject. "How is she doing, Sakura? Boruto told me he returned her glasses."

Sakura blinked, remembering the situation and that Himawari was injured as well.

"Oh, Sarada's fine. Just… a little roughed up, and I'll need to take her to get those glasses fixed before next week when she goes back to the Academy… What about Hima? Is she okay? Sarada told us it was an accident."

Sakura's face was etched with concern, and Hinata offered an appreciative smile. "Himawari is out on a trip with her father today as well. She's just fine. She and Naruto explained to me what happened, and we know it was just an accident. She just has a bruise, and a little bit of swelling, but she _insists_ on wearing a medical patch over her eye, even though she doesn't need it. She thinks it's neat-looking."

"It must be nice to have children," Tenten commented as they all chuckled. "It's a hassle, I imagine, but that must be part of the fun, right?"

Ino groaned. "I _guess_. Like I was telling Sakura, Inojin's a really good, well-behaved kid. But he's insufferably frank sometimes."

"Like father, like son," Sakura chimed with a smirk.

Karui finished her tea rather quickly and leaned back in her seat. "Mm… Chocho's pretty much perfect in my eyes," she said. "She's content as long as there's food readily available, and she's generally a chill little girl. Bit of a sassy temper at times. Not much I'd change about her."

Ino suddenly looked defensive, pouting. "Oh, I wouldn't _change_ Inojin or anything! I love him and his quirks to death! I'd probably be lost without him constantly monitoring my eating habits."

"Mhm…"

"Hey, stop making it seem like I'm saying something I'm not, Karui!"

"Bolt and Himawari are incredibly energetic," Hinata interjected by raising her voice slightly again with another small nervous smile, always on-hand to keep the subject moving forward. "When her father's not around, I'm the one Himawari wants to jump all over, and Boruto is always finding new ways to mess around with me. Them, plus Naruto's doting, and handling the affairs of the clan with Hanabi _while_ keeping Himawari in line to listen and learn from us… It gets exhausting."

Sakura tilted her head. "You say that like Himawari is the clan heiress. Boruto was born first, so wouldn't he be heir?"

Hinata chuckled softly and shook her head. "Does Boruto really seem like the type to want to trouble himself leading a clan? As soon as I started telling him about what he could expect someday as clan head, he _immediately_ relinquished his position as heir to Himawari."

"That's curious," Sakura chuckled. "Always imagined Boruto would want to be king of the castle one day."

"Boruto doesn't want to be the king of anyone's castle but his own," Hinata chuckled. "I'm sure the 'Hokage phase' will start up eventually, just like with most children, but… honestly, I can't really see Boruto striving to be Hokage like his father. He's just like Naruto: headstrong, steadfast, and always looking forward. But he's definitely branching off into his own person. He wants to be Boruto, not just 'Naruto's son'. He loves his father, of course, and wants his attention. But he doesn't want to ride his coattails."

Tenten smiled. "That's really respectable. Whatever Boruto does with himself, I'm sure he'll do it well. He and Hima and Sarada, and everyone else's kids."

"You'll have yourself a good man and a good kid one of these days, Tenten. Just give it some time," Karui said with a nod.

From there, the group of five girls took a few peaceful moments of silence to finish their coffee and stew over the enjoyable round of conversation they'd just shared.

"This is really nice," Sakura sighed. "Just sitting with friends, peacefully relaxing is the-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Everybody up, let's go!" Ino announced with a clap of her hands as she stood.

Hinata blinked. "Huh? Where are we going?" Tenten and Karui raised their brows as well.

A devious grin grew on Ino's face. "You didn't think we were all just gonna sit here and talk about our lives all day, did you? We're all going for a soak in the onsen, right now! Get a little naked, a little bit steamed up, then we're gonna have some real talk!"

Sakura chuckled and stood as well, reaching into her bag and retrieving her copy of _Make-Out Hurricane_, flipping through the book to an illustration of a smiling brunette woman standing nude with her bare foot in the lap of a rugged dark-haired man seated in a simple wooden chair with a blindfold over his eyes and his hands bound behind himself.

"And on the way there, Hinata, you can take a few minutes to explain _this_ to us."

The moment Sakura saw the serene, kind, and innocent Hyuga woman widen her eyes and begin to blush brightly, she knew this was going to be a great girl's day out.

…

…

It was close to noon, and they'd gone pretty far.

There were no dirt paths, no manmade markers, and no signs of any human interference in the dense forest they trekked through. Sasuke stepped with a casual surety through the winding maze of trees with his daughter on his shoulders dodging the gnarled twisted fingers of the low-lying branches. It was the quiet that unnerved Sarada the most. She was used to silence during written tests and the sleepy lonesomeness of being alone in her room at night, but there was no security in this quiet. If she wasn't with her father, Sarada would certainly have been frozen solid with fear a long time ago.

Sasuke stopped and Sarada gasped at the sound of a rustle in the bushes, and both of them watched silently as a long silver snake slithered out of the nearby underbrush and peered at them. Sasuke and the snake sternly locked eyes for a long, calm moment. When Sasuke began to step forward, the snake decided to continue on its way back into the twisted woods around it.

Sarada sighed with relief and clung tighter to her father as they continued forward, endlessly curious about where exactly they were going and why it was so far away from the Village. She had been quiet for most of the trip, but finally, she breaks down and asks the question.

"Are we there yet?"

Sasuke glanced briefly over his shoulder a moment before nodding his head forward and pointing. Sarada adjusted her glasses and tried to squint ahead into the distance. She didn't have to look far. Several steps later, the deep, lush, and mysterious forest around them shriveled away suddenly into burned, twisted, blackened trees and dusty earth all around them. In just a moment's time, it seemed that they were crossing the threshold into forbidden territory.

Fear and curiosity gripped Sarada's heart, and in turn, she gripped her father even tighter as she rode on his shoulder closer and closer to what Sarada could recognize in the near distance as the smoldering ruins of a large building that looked as if it had been scorched and peeled right off the face of the half-crumbled mountain that stood there as well.

Sasuke stopped where the trees ended and the ash began, and let Sarada down from his shoulders. She looked around with nervous fascination, wondering what exactly this ruined place was, why her father brought her here, and why he looked so solemn all of a sudden.

"Papa?" she asked, looking up at him.

He nodded forward, motioning for her to follow him, speaking as they walked.

"When I was about your age, Sarada, my entire world was turned upside-down, because my views on someone who was very close to me were completely changed in an instant of horror."

Sarada's mind was completely focused on everything her father was saying, and she kept silent to listen to him, barely paying attention to the smoldered, ashen rubble they walked through.

"I may have mentioned my brother from time to time before now. Itachi. Growing up, I saw him sort of like how you saw me. I looked up to him. I wanted to be like him. He was what made me happy. And when I was about your age, I discovered that he had done something horrible, utterly unspeakable, that changed my entire perception about my brother, and ruined a very, _very_ large part of my life."

Sasuke stopped, and Sarada blinked, pausing as well and looking forward. They had walked all the way into the center of the ruined temple-like building, to find a large cairn made of rough stones with the edges sanded away.

"This is where we last fought," Sasuke said. "And this is where he died."

Sarada blinked at the monument, then looks around at the sheer and utter destruction. When it finally occurred to her that her father was a part of what caused this, a shiver rolled up her spine. She stared at the small tower of stones for a moment, then looked up at her father as he continued.

"I could tell what you were thinking when you learned about the clan, Sarada. You're afraid of yourself and of your name. You're traumatized by what you've learned about someone you thought you knew. Just like I was. Right now, in a sense, I'm the Itachi to your Sasuke. Am I wrong?"

"I don't hate you, Papa," Sarada murmured. "I just… I… I didn't know…"

"You didn't know," Sasuke repeated as he turned toward Sarada, kneeling down so they're at eye level. "I wish there was someone like me who could have done this for me when I was your age. Let me open your eyes."

Sasuke leaned in until his forehead touched Sarada's he closed his eyes slowly, then opened his right one again. Sarada draws in a quick breath. Her father's eye had changed, forming a shocking star-like pattern of red-and-black. The Sharingan. Sarada had heard her father talk about this powerful ability, but he'd never shown it to her up close.

Sarada could only think about it for a brief moment before everything around her faded, and she was suddenly immersed in an unfamiliar world of memory and knowledge that was not her own, being shared with her. She caught glimpses of her father, growing throughout the years, sensing the rage and sorrow stowed deep in his heart. She briefly saw Naruto, and even her mother, for split seconds at a time. But the one whom Sarada saw the most of was her uncle.

She saw his life, as her father knew it. She saw his intelligence, his kindness, his incomparable skill and strength meshing with his pacifistic nature. Aloof and silently serene as it was, she saw the love he had for his little brother. And then she began seeing deeper. She saw every drop of his pain and his grief as his desire for peace pitted him against his entire clan.

She saw his horror at the realization that destroying his clan would spill less blood than allowing the Uchiha to spark a world war. She saw his broken heart and his anguished tears as he slew his own parents, who accepted their fate, and turned his brother against him, not for malevolent reasons, but as a way of punishing himself, and shaping the brother he always loved into the only one who he would allow to take vengeance upon him.

She saw every calculated action Itachi took, even after falling ill, even after _dying_, all with the purpose of protecting the Leaf Village and Sasuke's well-being. Despite what Itachi appeared to be to the rest of the world, Sarada saw the truth. All of it.

Hours of knowledge entered her mind in the span of a few seconds in reality, and when Sarada took a deep breath as the genjutsu finally ended, she stared with wide eyes at her father, who had tears in his eyes.

"Your uncle was the best of all of us, Sarada," he said. "Right before he died, he did for me what I just did for you, and he told me he'd always love me. He loved me and he loved the village, and he took on the burdens and hatred of the world for that love. At the end of the Last Great Ninja War, I wanted to follow in his footsteps and also accept the burdens and hatred of the world because deep inside, I still loved the village, my friends, and the world as well."

Sasuke paused to wipe his eyes, and brought his hands to wipe Sarada's, too, before he continued.

"Itachi was an example I wanted to follow. I just did so in a misguided way that Naruto helped me realize… I want Itachi to be an example for you, too. When you think of the Uchiha, and what an Uchiha really is and what it really means, don't think about me and my mistakes. I want you to think about your uncle and his sheer will and perserverance."

"But Papa…" Sarada sniffled. "Will no one in the Village… o-or the world… like me because of my name?"

"Oh, that's an easy one."

Sarada blinked, stepping away from her father and looking around quickly for the familiar voice. Sasuke nodded toward the cairn monument, and Sarada's eyes widened as she saw Naruto step out from behind the small stone tower, his hands in his pockets, a smile on his face, and Himawari clinging to his back, one of her eyes covered by a taped white patch. As soon as she sees Sarada, the dark-haired girl grins widely and waves.

"You can ask anyone," Naruto started. "I was the most despised little squirt in the whole Village, because I had the Nine-Tailed Fox inside of me. My parents wanted me to grow up as a hero because I was holding back a monster, but things didn't quite turn out that way. People's views get warped. They forget the sacrifices people make, or they never knew those sacrifices, or they didn't care about those sacrifices."

Naruto put Himawari down before he continued.

"My parents' sacrifice went unknown, despite their best efforts, and it affected my life for a long time. You could say that you and Sasuke are going through the same thing. Despite my best efforts, people still see the last two Uchiha in an ugly red light. That red light's probably always going to stick with your father, because his story's already been written. But you, Sarada… You're still a blank slate. You still have so many years ahead of you. Always remember this, Sarada. At the end of the day, it's never about who you are. It's about _what you do_. Do good. Strive to better the world and leave a good mark, and you'll turn all that hate right on its head. I'm living proof."

Himawari ran up to Sarada after her father finished, and threw her arms around her friend in a tight, warm hug before adding her own words.

"And don't ever forget, Sarada: even if the rest of the world doesn't like you, I'll always love you! And so will Boruto, and Chocho, and all of our friends!"

Sarada's heart was bursting with so much emotion that she trembled in Himawari's arms, and after a brief sniffle, hot tears flowed down her face, and she smiled as brightly as she ever had before hugging Hima right back.

"I love you, too… All of you…" she sobbed through her tears, and Himawari gently patted her back and let her empty herself of all her tears. Sasuke wiped his eyes as well, glancing over as Naruto threw his arm over his shoulder and sighed.

"I'm glad you asked us to do this," he said. "We did good today, Sasuke."

He blinked, and his Sharingan left his eyes. Sasuke said nothing, and silently nodded as he and Naruto watched their daughters share a moment that would stick with them the rest of their lives.

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**This chapter is only _half_ as long as I originally intended it to be**. **I stopped about halfway through because I realized "Holy crap, this is almost 5000 words..." As much as I'd love to give you guys an enormous 10,000 word chapter, I really really don't think that's my style... Besides, this ending is suitable enough for this chapter. To keep it going would take away from the moment! So I'll be working on the second half of this chapter as a separate chapter from this one. :D**

**Thanks for all the continued support and reviews! I'd love to hear what you think about the story and where you think it's gonna go! Hopefully, when Eleven Fifty-Four winds down, I can finish the last two chapters of Could Be Worse. After that, though, I'm actually thinking about writing... a Sarada/Himawari fic~**

**As much as I love the idea of Sarada/Boruto, writing this chapter made me realize that SaraHima would be fucking _adorable, _because I like the way I'm portraying Himawari here, with all her bubbliness, and I think that would complement nicely with Sarada's more serious nature! I'm probably not going to expound on SaraHima in Eleven Fifty-Four because, well, they're kids... I may hint a little at it, maybe, but it's not going to become a very serious plot point!**

**Again, tell me what you think! :3**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your**

**Hearts beat with**

**Calamity!**

**Till next time!**


	7. Never Have I Ever

**Major writer's block kept this from being uploaded yesterday. I blew through this chapter way faster than I thought I would! This was probably _the_ most fun chapter I've ever written for Eleven Fifty-Four, and I hope you'll have just as much fun reading it. :3 Not a lot here in terms of romance or development, but hopefully, that's alright!**

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The only thing better than shedding your clothes, cleansing your body, taking a soak, and dripping cool sweat from every pore on your body on a calm, cloudy afternoon was doing so with friends. Sakura's bare footsteps walked calmly out of the showers into the long hallway in the women's section of the bathhouse. With her arms and legs shimmering with moisture and the rest of her body wrapped snugly in a towel, Sakura made her way down the women's hall of the bathhouse, toward the sound of her friends' chattering voices behind the closed door of the sauna room they'd reserved.

Sakura slid the door open slowly and was blasted in the face with stuffy hot air and steam that made her flinch at first. She wrinkled her nose and stepped inside before closing the door behind her again to keep the heat in.

"…know how I got them, really… I've never drank a lot of milk, and no one in my family is really… busty. I bloomed early and just kept blooming, I suppose

Sakura chuckled as she stepped in right at the tail end of a flustered Hinata's answer for what she assumed was a question about her breasts. She pulled her towel away from her body and tossed it over her shoulder, waving away the steam from her face as she looked around. Hinata and Ino were sitting on the same bench, Ino's damp towel wrapped around her head, and Hinata's towel settled across her lap, with one leg crossed over the other, and one arm curtained bashfully over her buxom chest. Some things never changed.

Tenten was sitting on the opposite bench of the sauna, closer to the coals, and it was clear from the look on her tender-looking, reddened face that she was _very_ hot and loving the feeling. Her cool towel was clutched in her hand beside her. Karui was laying facedown across the bench opposite the sauna door, her towel under her chest and her eyes closed.

All of her friends except Ino were wearing their hair down, their nude bodies blushing and glowing with sweat, and Sakura moved to join them, sitting on Hinata's other side.

"Do they still float, Hinata? I remember noticing that one time we were younger in the bathhouse together. That was probably when I realized I was a little envious of you," Sakura remembered.

"I'm not jealous more than I am disappointed that you don't accentuate yourself more, Hinata!" Ino chuckled. "No idea why you're so partial to big, baggy jackets and sweaters and loose blouses. Hiding all that boob isn't fair to the rest of the world!"

Hinata sighed, nestling her arm even snugger against her chest. "The world will be fine without my… boob… hogging all the attention. That's _why_ I wore modest clothing when I was younger, so my chest wouldn't draw attention to me, and that's why I wear modest clothing now, so people focus more on me, and not my breasts. That, and I don't want people being envious of me. Sometimes, I wish I was smaller."

"Pff," Karui huffed, opening one eye. "If you've got it, flaunt it, I say. Being flatchested for twenty years of your life isn't fun. If I had breasts like yours, Hinata, I'd love for people to look at and appreciate them. Stick your chest out, show your body off proudly. And tell anyone who doesn't like it to go fuck themselves. That's what I tell Chocho whenever she talks about losing weight. She's perfect the way she is, and so are you."

Hinata smiled and moved her arm away from her breasts, to rub the back of her head lightly. "T-That's very kind of you to say, Karui. I don't know if I could tell someone to go f- … To… do that, though. I don't swear. You swear around your daughter?"

Karui shrugged. "We swear at each other all the time. 'Dammit' was one of the first words she ever learned to say. She'll be exposed to swearing and 'bad' language eventually. Might as well start her early."

Sakura didn't like to imagine Sarada growing up, learning bad language and the ways of the world, about life and love and sex… She shivered at the mere _idea_ of giving her daughter _the Talk._

"Egh, I just think that's teaching her to be impolite," Ino commented, bringing Sakura's thoughts back to the conversation at hand.

Karui rolled her one open eye. "I'm not polite. I'm an outspoken, easygoing person who has a tendency to get emotional when triggered. Chocho is very similar to me and wants to be 'cool' like her mom, so why shouldn't I oblige and raise her using the lessons I've learned? It's not like she won't make friends. She has plenty of friends already, and I have you guys, so being impolite must not be totally repellant."

Ino crossed her arms, silently conceding to Karui's point. "Alright, alright. Tenten, are you still alive? You've been awfully quiet over there."

By then, Tenten's entire body was pink, and she waved a hand with a small sigh. "I'm melting…" she groaned. "And it's wonderful. Just… gimme a minute, I'll jump in somewhere…."

Sakura tilted her head. "Don't overheat yourself, Tenten. You should go on ahead to the cooling pools. We'll be behind you in a minute. Doctor's orders."

With a sigh, Tenten pulled herself up and nodding, rewrapping her soaked body in a towel and nodding her head. "Don't make me wait too long!" she called before exiting.

Ino turned her attention back on Hinata with a smirk. "Soooo~ Continue telling us all about those naked pictures of you in Hurricane, Mrs. Modest."

On cue, Hinata looked away and her face lit up once again. "Naruto just asked if I wanted to pose and make a few nice illustrations with Sai… We were all already well on our way through the book itself… I figured, why not? I was… into it, it was fun! And the pictures came out so beautifully and tasteful…"

Sakura chuckled and poked Hinata teasingly. "I devoured almost half the book last afternoon, finally. I'd held myself back from reading it because I still couldn't bring myself to accept that you'd pose for pictures like that and write sm-"

"No! It's not smut," Hinata interrupted firmly, pouting and giving Sakura a surprisingly stern, almost angry look before immediately relaxing. "I'm sorry. I… really don't like that word. It's _erotica._ Nothing we did for our book was blatantly pornographic. It's… not like I was flaunting as a model, or posing with… m-my legs spread or in overtly sexual positions. Most of the pictures, even though they're almost entirely nude, were quite artistic and concealing."

"I read it, too, and I gotta ask," Karui hummed, lifting her head slightly. "Were the bedroom scenes based on true events, Hinata?"

The blank-eyed woman blinked, not understanding at first. Once it dawned on her though, her entire face answered for her by glowing red-hot with embarrassment, which prompted the rest of the sauna to burst into laughter. Hinata stood and rewrapped her towel as well before making a swift exit of her own.

"They were!" Ino giggled giddily as she stood. "We _have_ to pursue this now. C'mon, you two!"

Completely forgoing a towel around her bare sweaty form, Ino stood and marched right out of the sauna, prompting Karui to sigh as she began to rise from her reclined, relaxed position.

"I admire you for putting up with her for as long as you have." she told Sakura with a smirk as the two of them donned their towels and stood.

"Ino's insufferably fun, isn't she?" Sakura chuckled, stepping out with Karui. "I always want to punch her, hug her, or do both. She's how I entertain myself in the interims between Sasuke's visits, when I'm not busying myself at the hospital or trying to entertain Sarada."

A short walk down the hall lead the two of them into a large room where the air was clear and fresh instead of steamy and humid, and the other three had already dipped themselves into the cold pool to bring themselves down from their long, steamy sweat bath

"Ino, are me and the book all we're going to be making fun of today?" Sakura heard Hinata murmur as she rubbed her cheeks to try to calm her burning blush.

"We're not making fun!" Ino laughed.

"Yeah, we're genuinely curious now!" Sakura concurred, taking in a sharp breath as she slipped her towel away and went in for the cold dip. She sighed shakily before watching Karui climb in calmly without even so much as a shiver. Sakura poked Hinata again, continuing. "What's your sex life like with Naruto?"

Sakura could see the helplessness on Hinata's face. Now that she was the target, it would be hard for her to subtly redirect the subject under their watch.

"I didn't know 'real talk' meant 'sex talk'," Hinata sighed. "And I don't think it's fair that all the attention is suddenly on me! L-Let Tenten have a chance to speak. She's been awfully quiet."

Tenten blinked, and Ino rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Tenten doesn't have a sex life, Hinata. We're talking about you here!"

"First of all, fuck you," Tenten sighed flatly. "Secondly, I might not have a husband or children, but it's not like I'm a shrew or a recluse. I try to keep an active dating life, at least. I've been on a few dates, had a few drinks out. I'm playing the field, trying to figure out what I'm looking for. Maybe I'll expand my horizons a bit and see if I can become a Shinobi Union representative in another village for a while or at the very least, get a little bit of meaningful work. That's how you and Choji really met and grew close, right, Karui? You got teamed up with Choji on some kind of mission? What's _he _like in bed, since this is apparently the subject going around?"

The tan redhead leaned back and rested her elbows casually against the rim of the pool, nodding her head. "That's about right," she said with a nod. "And Choji and I… what typically ends up happening is me c-"

"Ah, stop! No no no! I don't want to hear about how Choji has sex!" Ino whined out suddenly, covering her ears.

Karui turned her head, annoyed. "Isn't this what you wanted, Ino? Real talk is sex talk, right? And why do you sat that like he's disgusting or something?"

Ino huffed. "It's just- I mean- That's- He's my teammate! As members of the Ino-Shika-Cho Formation, we share a bond that transcends friendship and may even transcend brotherhood. We're a trinity, three parts to one whole!"

"Still adorable to me."

"Shut up, Karui! It's just that hearing about what my teammates do in the bedroom would be too weird for me! It'd skew my perception and screw the deep dynamic relationship I have with them to begin to hear about it or think that way."

Meanwhile, Sakura stifled a snicker as she caught a glimpse of Hinata's relieved face. She actually managed to redirect the subject _again_. She was getting a tad restless, however. The water was cool, but after getting all hot and sweaty and tender in the sauna, it might as well have been frigid. Sakura could already see goosebumps rising and her nipples hardening. She needed something to distract herself while she adjusted.

"Hey, how about we play a little game?" Sakura asked, drawing all eyes toward her. "You all know how to play 'Never Have I Ever', right? We put up five fingers, then go around in a circle, stating things we've never done in that form. 'Never have I ever blah blah blah.' Whoever _has_ done it has to put a finger down, and the last person with fingers still up wins. We can make it fit with the theme going around, too."

Ino and Karui both shrugged and raised their hands to show their fingers.

"Sure, sounds like a good time," Ino answered.

Tenten crossed her arms. "If it's gonna be about sex, I think I'll just pass for now and listen."

Hinata was hesitant, and the last person to actually raise her hand, but she silently agreed to play as well, and Sakura grinned.

"Ooh, this will be fun. I'll go first." Sakura raised her hand and thought for a moment. "Mm… Never have I ever… had sex drunk. First thing that came to mind."

Everyone else dropped a finger, and Ino squinted. "You hardly drink, Sakura! Barely fair!" she argued.

Sakura chuckled and shrugged. "Your turn, Hinata."

"Um…"

The modest Hyuga stared at the water for a long few moments before she lifted her head. "Uh, never have I ever yelled at my husband?"

There was an immediate outcry of protest and disbelief from everyone in the pool, and Hinata sank lower into the water, embarrassed.

"That can't be true, Hinata! You've _never_ yelled at Naruto?" Sakura interrogated as she lowered a finger, bringing her to four and Ino and Karui to three.

"I-I've gotten angry with him… We've argued… When I was pregnant with Himawari, I once got so upset about something silly that I smacked him. But… we've never raised our voices at each other," Hinata explained.

"Not even during sex?" Karui asked skeptically.

Hinata looked away and let her blush brighten before she answered. "Yelling into the pillows is very different from yelling _at_ your husband…"

There was a long moment of silence before Ino shrugged with a cheeky smirk. "I'll accept that." Sakura and Karui nodded their agreement before Ino took her turn.

"Nnnnnever have I ever gotten naughty in a public place."

Karui shook her head, and Sakura blushed, fondly remembering the time she squirmed against Sasuke's touch some months ago in a busy little restaurant as she lowered a finger, but after a long moment and an even brighter blush, Hinata lowered another finger as well.

Ino gasped dramatically. "Mrs. Modest! Sakura already explained her little happening to me a couple months ago, but what have _you_ been up to in public?!"

Hinata mumbled quietly before raising her voice to speaking level. "It… coincides with the one time we did it drunk," she murmured. "It was late at night in the park next to the marketplace, a couple of months before I was pregnant with Boruto. I-I… honestly don't remember much about that night, but I do remember just lying in the grass under the stars, and... Your turn, Karui," Hinata said quickly.

The redhead chuckled and tapped her chin. "Hm. Never have I ever thought about cheating on my husband."

No-brainers for Sakura and Hinata, but both of them were shocked to see Ino down to two fingers.

"Ino!" Sakura gasped.

"What?! I've _thought_ about what it might be like to sleep with another man before. Sleeping with another man is cheating, therefore, I've thought about cheating. That doesn't mean I have a _desire_ to! Jeez." Ino crossed her arms, blushing. "I'm just being honest. I love Sai to death and I'd never stoop so low as to commit adultery. That doesn't stop me from having fantasies, though. Just stupid little fantasies, nothing more."

Sakura's critical look softened a tad. "Guess that makes sense, on some level. Okay, um… Never have I ever done anal."

Sakura's jaw dropped as Hinata dropped another finger, and she didn't even notice Karui lower a finger as well. "I didn't expect that from you, Hinata! I figured you to be strictly traditional!"

Hinata shook her head. "Well… Naruto's very adventurous. He always wants to keep things fresh, and before we had Boruto, it really seemed like every time we'd make love, there was something different he wanted to try, and I was nervous, but I went along with it because I wanted to make him happy, and I was curious about things as well. That was one of the first new things we tried."

Sakura nodded. "Guess this was a good way to really pry a bit into your sex life~" she snickered, and Hinata pouted.

"Never have I ever had pink hair."

Sakura's teasing mirth withered instantly, and everyone else in the pool burst into laughter at the blatant dirty move, from Hinata of all people. Sakura slowly lowered one of her three raised fingers as she glared at Hinata's amused and apologetic face.

Ino rubbed her hands together. "Whew! Looks like we're all at two. Alright, never have I ever made love fully clothed."

Karui and Hinata both lowered another finger, bringing the two of them down to one left. Ino squinted at Sakura.

"If you're thinking about that time I told you about in the restaurant, Ino, that was just fingering. No actual penetration," she said with a smirk. Ino rolled her eyes.

Karui took a moment to think. "…Never have I ever talked openly with my friends about my sex life before now."

The tan woman smirked at Ino, then at Sakura, and the two of them groaned and brought their fingers down to one as well.

"Ooh, Sakura could win it here," Tenten commented from the sidelines.

It took a long moment for Sakura to think, and she bit her lip and took a deep breath before speaking. "Never have I ever… had a child of mine walk in on me during sex."

All three of the other players groaned in defeat, and Sakura lifted her hands with a victorious cheer, thankful that she'd been so careful all these years and hadn't had _that_ may opportunities to actually slip up in that regard.

Hinata glanced up out the nearby window, seeing that the afternoon was starting to fade into evening. "That was fun. Embarrassing… but fun. It's getting a little late. Should we start to head out? I'm all cooled down and refreshed, and I had a really nice day with you all."

"Oh, we're not done yet~" Ino snickered as she rose from the pool. "We're just getting started! This girls' day out can't end unless we've had a few drinks in us! Everybody up!"

Sakura sighed. "I hope you're not expecting me to _actually_ get drunk, Ino," she said as she stood up with the rest of her friends to let the cool water roll off their glistening forms.

Ino winked as they donned their towels again. "I'm expecting you to have _fun_, Billboard Brow. And I know just the way to make that happen."

Ino said no more, and strutted proudly out of the room to turn toward the lockers. The four women left by the cooling pools all gave each other somewhat concerned looks before they followed after her.

…

…

"Did you really blow up the moon and put it back together, Daddy? The moon looks fine to me! Broken things don't look right after you fix them, and I should know. Remember that time Boruto accidentally broke a vase and we tried to put it back together? It still looked really weird, and Mommy could still tell it was broken. Mommy has really good eyes. Why don't my eyes look like Mommy's eyes? Me and Boruto's eyes look like yours, just with a little bit of Mommy's color! We even have your whisker-marks, so we _really_ look like you! Where'd you get whisker-marks, anyway? Is it because of Ku-Ku? If you lost Ku-Ku from inside you, would you lose your whisker-marks? Does the fact that me and Boruto have whisker-marks mean that a part of Ku-Ku is inside us, too? Can Ku-Ku have children? I mean, he's not _really_ a fox. And he's huge! And inside you. How would that even work? Daddy, where do babies come from?"

By the time Naruto, Sasuke, and their daughters made it back into the Village, the night had taken over the sky, and the streets were lit by the lamps above and the glowing lights of buildings all around them. It didn't take long at all for Sarada to fall asleep peacefully on her father's back, her glasses tucked into the neck of Sasuke's shirt.

Himawari, on the other hand, appeared wide-awake on her own father's back, relentlessly chattering away in her father's ear, as she had been the entire trip back. Naruto looked understandably worn.

"Is she always like this?" Sasuke asked with a chuckle.

"No, Hima's just _very_ tired. She likes to talk when she's sleepy. It helps keep her awake. The moment I put her in bed and leave the room, she'll be out cold," Naruto said.

"Daddyyyyy~ Can you answer my questions before I go to sleep?"

"I'll try when we get home… That last one may need to wait until you get your headband."

Naruto looked up as Sasuke stopped in front of the path that led to his and Sakura's home.

"Thanks again for doing this, Naruto. I owe you," he called.

"Don't worry about it!" Naruto answered back, giving Sasuke a thumbs-up. "What are friends for?"

"Bye, Mr. Uchiha! Bye Sarada!" Himawari called out as well, and Sasuke smirked and watched them turn the corner before letting out an exhausted sigh and starting down the short path into the house.

The emptiness struck Sasuke immediately. He could tell his wife wasn't home, and raised a curious brow as he wondered what she would be doing out so late. First things were first, however. As quietly as he could, he brought Sarada upstairs to her room, laid her in her bed, tucked her in tight, and lightly tapped his fingers against her forehead before he returned to the living room to sit and wait.

Sasuke occasionally glanced up at the clock, counting off the minutes. When 11:30 rolled around with still no sign of Sakura, Sasuke sighed and stood, returning upstairs once again to check on Sarada again before leaving the house and trying to figure out where he should look first.

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**I'm glad I decided to incorporate some other characters. I felt like it took a bit away from Sakura and her thoughts, but hopefully, you all like the chapter! The girls' antics will continue next chapter. They had an innocent morning, and a saucier afternoon. How bad do you think it's gonna get at night? :3**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your**

**Hearts beat with**

**Calamity!**

**Till next time! :D**


	8. She Can Handle Herself

**A/N: Welcome back! Sorry this took so long to get out. Working on finals this week! Anyway, ready to see five highly-skilled, deadly dangerous kunoichi get white-girl wasted? Then read on!**

* * *

_9:30_

The only thing better than getting drunk in a toasty bar on a cool, starry night was doing so with friends, according to Ino. Sakura had her doubts at first. Ino had chosen Kagayaki, a quaint, yet nice-looking and well-attended little bar in the middle of the village with music to move to and a moderate fog of voices around them. It looked nice enough enough to make Ino happy, but traditional enough to make Hinata comfortable and keep with Sakura's theme today of relaxing with her friends.

The girls had found themselves a nice grouping of chairs at the bar, and they were snacking on a few rolls while they waited for their first round of drinks to arrive. Sakura had been wearing a look of caution on her face from the first implications in the onsen that Ino was going to bring them all out drinking. Tenten and Karui looked quaint and relaxed enough, and though the atmosphere was fine for Hinata, she looked almost as tense as Sakura did.

Ino, of course, pouted. "Oh, fix your faces, you two! Lighten up! You act like I brought you two here to cheat on your husbands! We're just going to have some drinks and have some fun!"

Sakura sighed. "Ino, you still haven't told us what kind of fun we're going to be having here."

"You'll find out once you've had some drinks," Ino responded with a smirk and a wink. "But since we're waiting… what should we talk about? We've been over our husbands and children, our sex lives, jobs, Hinata's chest… Hm…"

"I wouldn't mind staying on the subject of Hinata's chest," Karui joked.

"What about… this technological boom we've been seeing all around us?" Hinata offered with a small cough, her face reddening just a tad. "How do you all feel about how far the village has come in a little over a decade?"

Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know how I feel about it, really. Sasuke's very old-fashioned, and that's sort of rubbed off on me. Both of us _have_ our own cell phones, but we rarely use them. I can't even remember where mine is, really. Sasuke sends everything to me and Naruto through messenger hawk, unless it's immediately crucial and dire."

"Has he ever had to actually send something crucial and dire through phone?" Tenten asked.

Sakura shook her head. "Not to me, thankfully. I don't know whether or not Naruto's ever gotten anything like that from him, but Sasuke's very particular about keeping me out of most of his business. He keeps a lot of his business to himself and doesn't often tell me where he's been or where he's going."

Karui tilted her head. "Mm. Do you ever worry about that?"

"What do you mean?"

"About what or who he might be doing out there that you don't know about."

Karui's bluntness was a real jolt to the chest for Sakura, and she had to take a moment to blink before answering. "No. We might not see each other every day, but Sasuke and I love each other. I know he wouldn't betray me. I certainly wouldn't betray him just because he's not around. We were talking about technology, right?"

Karui read Sakura's frown and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry about that. Just wondering.

Sakura laced her fingers together on the table in front of them. "Neither of us have a computer. Both of us were pretty clear and firm earlier on in Sarada's life that she wouldn't have a television in her room or a computer of her own, either. Unless, of course, she bought them for herself with her own money one day."

"Aw, that's a bit _too_ old-fashioned, don't you think?" Ino tsked.

Sakura shrugged. "Spoiling Sarada isn't going to help her to be a good ninja. I didn't have a television or a computer when I was Sarada's age, so I'm sure she'll survive without them until she's able and willing to get her own."

Hinata nodded her head. "I have some of the same views, personally. If it was up to _me_, Boruto and Himawari wouldn't have cell phones, and we wouldn't have a computer at home. But I defer to Naruto. He's had to let technology shape him as a Hokage into someone who's more efficient and willing to move forward with the times. This is one of the few things we've ever legitimately argued about."

She frowned and crossed her arms before continuing. "To be honest, I don't like what technology has done to the village's culture. All these appeals and promotions to vanity and laziness aren't healthy, and I'm afraid of what it might do to my children. Himawari is the sweetest, most hyperactive little girl in the entire village. The way she is, it's hard enough to raise her to eventually take my place as clan head. It's going to be even harder if she grows up to be like the teenage girls I've been seeing around, scandalously dressed, walking around sultrily, and with her phone glued to her ear."

Ino furrowed her brows. "It's not as bad as you guys make it seem! I agree that tradition is important and that the way we grew up works and matters, but at the same time, I think it's perfectly fine that there's effort being put into giving people more room to enjoy themselves and not have to always worry about training and being absolutely ready for anything. We're in an era of peace! Karui, Tenten, back me up here!"

"Meh."

"I don't really have an opinion either way."

Ino sighed heavily, but perked up once she saw that their first rounds of whisky and glasses were coming. "Keep them coming! Gonna be a long night with these two around," she chuckled to the bartender before pushing a couple of glasses toward Sakura and Hinata and a couple more toward Karui and Tenten.

"Enough nagging like old ladies about better, simpler times! We're here to have a good time, you guys!" Ino said as she cracked open the first cool bottle of whisky and poured each of her friends a small glass before raising hers first. "Here's to good times and everlasting friendships!"

It took a small nudge from Sakura to get Hinata to sigh and reluctantly raise her glass to clink them together with everyone else as they raised them. And all at once, the five of them downed their first shots.

…

…

_11:30_

Sasuke had just stepped outside the gate in front of his home when he saw Naruto turning the corner again and heading back in his direction. Both of them had the same expression and the same thought.

"Hinata's not usually out this late. I came to see if maybe she had come to see Sakura or something. Is she not home, either?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke furrowed his brows and closed his eyes for a moment. "She's not. And I was just thinking the same thing you were," he muttered.

When he opened them again, both of his eyes changed, with the Sharingan in his right and his unique Rinnegan in his left. Sasuke focused sternly ahead for a long moment before his eyes drifted slowly north. Sasuke blinked and rubbed underneath his eyes for a moment before starting down the road.

"Busy night tonight. They're mixed in with a lot of other chakra signatures in town somewhere. And they're together, as far as I can tell. Let's go find them," he said as Naruto followed after him.

…

…

_10:30_

It'd been a little while since Sakura actually had alcohol, and the little sting of the whisky going down caused her to flinch and hold her breath for half a moment. Tenten had to cough, and Hinata hiccupped almost immediately. Ino's brows came together for a moment, and Karui just gulped it down as if it was as mundane as water. As the night wore on and an hour passed, the first bottle of whisky had been emptied, and Sakura rubbed her throat as another shot went down.

"When's the last time you actually had alcohol, Sakura?" Tenten asked after clearing her throat.

"About… About this time last year. Accident rates were higher then, and it's hard to drink when you're almost always on call at the hospital." Came Sakura's response after a moment. She shook her head. "Even back then, I'd only had one or two drinks, like, ever. Alcohol's-"

About then, the alcohol began to hit Sakura. The whisky had finally given here that warm and cozy buzz that she was anticipating. Everything suddenly seemed _better_, and Sakura realized that she'd been missing out. She'd forgotten how good drinking can feel, and the sparks of warmth and happiness that vibrated through her very being were very eager to remind her.

"…Alcohol's an infrequent pleasure, I guess," Sakura finished, looking around to see that everyone else had relaxed a little bit more as well, except Karui, who was _always_ relaxed, it seemed. Even Hinata seemed to be lightening up quite a bit.

"Hehe… I think… I think I should stick with wine from here on out. Whisky's… probably not for me," she said, shaking her head and covering her mouth to stifle another hiccup.

Ino laughed. "You're fine, Hinata! You look like you've taken your shots pretty well. Do you know your limits?"

Hinata furrowed her brows for a moment and blinked slowly as she thought. "Well… I've only ever had wine, and only enough wine to make me a little giggly. This is _*hic*_ already the most intoxicated I've ever been."

"Pfft! You can definitely go for more, then! Naruto's been going easy on you! You're not drunk until you're loud, warm, and happy!" Ino told her, then called out to the bartender. "Something strong and tasty for this one to sip on!" she said, gesturing to Hinata.

"Heh," Karui chuckled. "These drinks are pretty tame in comparison to the stormbrewed alcohol they make in the Hidden Cloud Village. Should try Black Sansai one of these days. That'll knock you on your ass faster than it'll take to get to your stomach."

"Bring some the next time we get together! Sounds like that'd be a fun thing to try," Ino suggested with a smirk.

"Black Sansai is the ghost pepper of alcoholic drinks. If I do get my hands on some, I'm not liable if your stomach explodes," Karui joked.

"I'll… stick with local options," Hinata said, rubbing the back of her head with a small laugh. Her drink arrives soon after, a tall glass filled with an unfamiliar light-bluish beverage, and Hinata took a long moment to stare at it while the rest of her friends began ordering other things for themselves as well.

It took another encouraging nudge from Sakura to get Hinata to take a slow sip. And right before the pink-haired medic's eyes, the alcohol struck Hinata as well, relaxing both her shoulders and her tongue as she smiled and said:

"_Fuck, _that's good…"

…

…

_11:45_

Naruto yawned and rubbed his eyes as he and Sasuke headed down the side streets toward the main village road.

"Think they're out drinking?" he asked with a raised brow.

Sasuke responded with a blink and a shrug. "Sakura doesn't drink. At least not while I'm here. I've never seen her drunk, and she doesn't keep alcohol around the house. Not sure, though. Maybe. Does Hinata drink?"

Naruto looked at the sky. "Well… not usually. I've taken her out a few times over the years, and alcohol makes her a bit giggly and hiccupy. She's only ever had wine, though. The first time we went out to drink, I started her off light, since I know how she is. She's been content to just stick with that."

"Mm."

"She can handle herself, though," Naruto added as they approach the main road, finding it a fair bit busier tonight. "If they were out drinking with friends or something, I can see Hinata being the one to keep herself under control and hold everyone else together," he chuckled.

…

…

_11:30_

Hinata slammed down her empty glass and dipped her head with a long sigh, to the loud applause of her friends and an excited pat on the back from Sakura. The glass slid over to join the crowd of other emptied glasses that had piled along the edge of the bar over the course of the next hour as all five of them got more and more intoxicated.

Ino and Karui, who were more used to drinking, could keep themselves together for the most part. Ino's cheeks were red and her eyes were blinking rapidly from time to time, but she kept her composure, letting the alcohol relax her body and make everything exponentially more exciting. Karui didn't seem to be fazed all that much. She was relaxed and grinning and hiccupping from time to time, but her face kept its usual calm, relaxed expression, without a drunken blush or an inarticulate slur.

Sakura and Tenten, after some time, had let themselves go about as much as the average person would after getting a strong enough buzz going. Both their faces were red from the edges of their cheeks to the bridges of their noses. Sakura had a hard time keeping still, things were starting to blur, her thoughts were racing but she wasn't thinking too hard about anything in particular. She was sure Tenten was feeling the same way.

Hinata had the most impressive transformation out of all of them.

"_Wooooo!_" she yelled as she shook her head and let everyone see how red her entire face had become and how loud her normal speaking voice had gotten over the course of the night. Grinning widely at Ino, she hiccupped before speaking.

"Alright, alright, al- _*hic!* _Ah, fuck…Alright… Pass the b- _*hic!*_ the bottle so I can spin…"

Ino's 'fun', as Sakura and their friends eventually came to discover, was a drunken round of truth-or-dare, with a bottle spun around on the bar top to decide who would be asked next, depending on who the neck or the bottom of the bottle pointed to. Hinata had just been dared to down the rest of her latest drink all at once without sipping, and it would soon be someone else's turn.

Hinata spun the bottle around and it stopped with the neck pointed toward Tenten, who cleared her throat and called, "Truth!"

"Um…" Hinata thought for a long moment and looked around before smiling goofily again. "Alright, Tenten… On a scale of… one-one to ten-ten… how bad do you wanna fuck the bartender?"

Tenten giggled at Hinata's drunken pun and began to leer searchingly over at the bartender, who overheard the conversation nearby and stopped, blinking.

"Mmm…" Tenten purred, grinning at him. "I think I'd be all over him if I wasn't having so much fun with you guys... Nine-nine."

She winked at the young man, who blushed and offered a bit of a nod before returning to his job, and prompting more mirthful laughs from the group of friends as Tenten spun the bottle and watched it stop with the bottom pointed toward Sakura.

"Sakura! Truth or dare?"

Feeling bold, Sakura grinned and decided, "Dare!", before shaking her head and getting her mind into focus.

"I dare you… to… unclip your dress a little bit… and pour the rest of your drink over your chest."

Sakura blinked, staring at the half-full margarita in front of her, then at the expectant faces of all of her friends. She didn't want to waste her drink, but she couldn't step down from the dare. She shrugged and decided to get it over with as quickly as she could unclipping the first two bits on her dress and revealing a good amount of cleavage.

Already, Sakura felt her face grow even warmer at the attentive stares of her friends and a few other patrons whose attention was drawn by the jovial loudness of their group. She sighed and lifted her glass, taking a small sip of the delicious beverage before tipping the glass and letting the remainder flow over and between her breasts.

"Ah! _Ah, cold!_" Sakura yelped out immediately, jumping and squirming and shivering in her seat as her friends laugh and cheer. Sakura hugged her arms close around herself and pouted, but she couldn't help but break out into laughter after a few moments as well. She was drunk, she was cold, and her breasts now smelled of lime and cherries, but she was having the time of her life!

…

…

_11:50_

"How long do you think it'll be until you decide you're ready to stay for good? Would be nice to see you on a daily basis, Sasuke. I'm sure Sakura and Sarada would agree."

Sasuke let out a soft sigh, glancing over at Naruto and his cocked eyebrow. "There's still a few things I have left to handle, and a few places left I need to go. Loose ends need tying up, and burdens need letting go. It shouldn't be too much longer. To be able to finally feel comfortable just living my life again and putting my blade away for good is what I want more than anything else in the world. But I can't rest until everything is sorted."

"That's understandable. Hopefully, once you do finally settle, it'll be comfortable enough for you living here. You know as well as I do that there'll always be unrest where your name's concerned."

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes. "I'm not worried about any grumbling whispers or suspicious looks. I'm not here for _people_. I'm here for my family."

When he opened his eyes, Sasuke's Sharingan and Rinnegan flashed to life, and in turn, Naruto closed his eyes and centered his tired mind and chakra enough to briefly lapse into Sage Mode.

Sasuke and Naruto both looked around, their eyes changed. Sasuke's abnormal eyes scoped in one direction while Naruto and his sage eyes searched in the other. They eventually locked onto the same general direction, and looked up to read the glowing neon 'KAGAYAKI' sign above the entrance, just a short walk away.

"That's the place," Sasuke noted with a nod.

"Yep. Let's go tell our wives we're back," Naruto said. "Hopefully, we won't have to drag them home."

…

…

_11:54_

"I fucking love you guys~" Hinata summed up the evening quite well, while Tenten lost her mind laughing at Ino's disastrous attempt to stand on her head as the latest dare. Not only did she flash the bar for a good few minutes, but after several minutes of failed attempts to stick the move, when she _finally_ succeeded in holding the headstand, Karui tickled her knee and sent her crashing and flailing right down to the floor again.

"Fah! You bitch!" Ino slurred dizzily as she stood again, though the look on her blushing face showed that she was still in good spirits.

Sakura was as content as she'd ever been in a long time, watching the room swim around her and laughing, hiccupping, and talking loudly right along with the rest of her friends. As Ino shook her head, fixed her hair, and spun the bottle around again, she glanced out of one of the windows along the front of the bar, her eyes widening at what she saw.

"Hinata, Hinata, Hinata…" Ino chattered quickly, slamming her hand on the bartop frantically until she found the bottle and stopped it to make the neck point at her.

"Eh?" the drunken Hyuga hummed in response.

"You're doing a dare, Hinata. Quick, quick. Right now, Hinata. Kiss the fuck out of Sakura's mouth. Do it, do it."

That got a blink out of Sakura. "Wh-What...?" she stammered, looking between a goofily grinning Hinata and Ino, whose heard was turned and whose pursed lips showed that she was holding back laughter.

Before Sakura could turn her head to the windows to see what Ino was seeing, she felt her face being firmly cupped, and the last thing she heard was a slurred, sultry, "Alrighty~" before she felt Hinata's soft lips mashed against her own.

For the first few seconds, Sakura was incredibly shocked, and tried to flail and stand and break the kiss. But to trap her where she was, Hinata left her seat and pinned Sakura down to her chair by sitting in her lap, giving the thicker Hyuga woman all the room in the world to press as firmly against her as she pleased.

After those seconds, Sakura's mind relaxed, and she stopped her squirming. She felt her chest begin to grow warmer the longer the kiss goes on, and as her heart fluttered and her mind bubbled with confused heat, she began to not only accept the kiss, but contribute, closing her eyes and letting her blush creep over her entire face as she smacked her lips hungrily against Hinata's.

Soon, she couldn't help herself. The heat clouding her thoughts left her actions up to instinct, and all on her own, she brings her hands firmly against Hinata's rear as she shifts and rocks in her lap, and adds her tongue to their frantic little dance, swirling their tongues in the space between their soft lips. She nipped and nibbled at Hinata's lip whenever the opportunity came, and as the seconds passed, her groping grasp on her friend got firmer and lewder.

It all flew by in a wonderful, incomprehensible rush, and as the two of them gave each other muffled moans and purrs, Sakura wasn't even sure where she was anymore, and remained lost in the moment until the both of them needed breath.

Sakura panted, and as she returned to reality, she began to analyze the situation. Right in front of her, sitting in her lap, a widely smiling Hinata with her pants slightly pulled down and a slightly-swollen lower lip from all the suckling. To her left, her friends were absolutely roaring with laughter. Karui banged her fist on the bartop hysterically, Ino was clutching her stomach, and Tenten had fallen out of her chair, curled up on the floor.

To her right, standing rigid in the bar's entranceway were her husband and Hinata's husband, completely and utterly stunned. Naruto's jaw was slack and his eyes were wide, and Sasuke's expression matched his almost perfectly.

Hinata noticed them as well, and the both of them squealed with excitement as they stood and tottered toward their husbands with arms outstretched.

"Narutoooooo~!"

"Sasukeeeeee~!"

"You big yellow candything! _Kiss meh!_"

"I'm so drunking _fuck _right now~!"

As their wives glomped all over them, spouting utter nonsense, Naruto and Sasuke slowly turned their heads to look at each other.

"...I'll... see you later, Naruto," Sasuke sighed before picking Sakura up on his back and letting her rest her head against his shoulder as he began to carry the _second_ love of his life home while Naruto whined desperately after him.

"S-Sasuke, you can't just leave me like- H-Hinata, please! Don't- Sasuke, wait! _Ack!_"

* * *

**A/N: Well, that escalated. :P This was such a ton of fun to write, especially near the end, even though it was really tough, too! I hope you all liked it!**

**Next chapter, we're getting back into focusing on Sasuke and Sakura with no pesky other people getting in the way! Don't know when that will be, since I've got finals, but hopefully it won't take three weeks this time.**

**If you haven't read Naruto Gaiden yet, do it. It's good! A tad disappointed at the SasuSaku developments in the story. :( But nonetheless, it's _really_ good. Read it!**

**EDIT: There seems to be a little bit of confusion! 'Second love of his life' is referring to Sarada, and how Sasuke carried _her_ home on his back just like he's carrying Sakura. It's not referring to some mystery woman that Sasuke's cheating with. :P Sorry if the wording was a little awkward!**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your**

**Hearts beat with**

**Calamity!**

**Till next time!**


	9. Little Sick, Long Night

**Hey, hey! Welcome back! I managed to squeeze this chapter out a bit sooner than I expected I would. It's not as long as I initially planned it to be, but I figured I might as well give you guys _something_ before I have to commit the rest of the week to my final exams this semester. So here you go!**

**I apologize to anyone who may think that the rather serious romance/family/drama story got a biiiiiiit off-track with Sakura and her girls' night out. n.n; I know, it may have seemed like a bit of a hard left, and maybe a bit OOC near the end (and at the very beginning of this chapter...) but I wanted to try out something funny and broaden my horizons a little bit, as a foil to the whole emotional ride we were taken on with Sasuke, Sarada, and the Uchiha identity, I suppose.. The story's gonna get back on track pretty soon. This is more an interim chapter than anything substantial, but the plot's moving forward!**

**I also apologize to anyone who's expecting a sex scene with Drunk!Sakura in this chapter. I tried, I really did. Half this chapter _was_ originally a drunken sex scene, but I couldn't get through it! It didn't feel right. Sasuke explains it in the story better than I can here, so just read on! And again, try not to laugh immediately.**

* * *

"…I can imagine all of us having a foursome… Can you imagine it, Sasuke? Think of all the… the… positions and stuff. Like… um… Oh, me and Hinata all mushed together between you two, kissing on each other while you're _*hic*_ fucking us at the same rhythm… Or, um… Um… _*hic* _oh! Maybe, uh, we could… cover our face. …Faces. And tits... In cream or something, and you two have to lick us up to find out who's who. Oooooooh… Or we could… wife-swap. Yeah! That'd be an adventure… Hinata's got a fat ass, you wanna fuck that? I know I wanna fuck that… Ooooh, or you and… and… and Naruto on me at either end. We'll call it the Team Seven Spit Roast~ Mmm… I bet you're so hard right now, Sasuke…"

Sasuke now knew how Naruto felt carrying a yammering Himawari on his back while they were heading back to the Village. He was visibly flustered and worn by Sakura's increasingly lewd, loose-tongued remarks as he carried her back the way he came. He was hoping she'd give up if he just didn't answer her, but to no avail. He was relieved when he finally spotted their front gate, and picked up his pace just enough for Sakura to giggle as she bounced on his back.

"Was our house always this blurry, Sasuke~? Hm?" Sakura hummed, blinking as she looked around their dark and quiet living room, or what she could make out of it, before resting her head lazily on Sasuke's shoulder again. He took a brief look around as well before carrying Sakura across the room and up the stairs toward their room. With some effort, Sasuke let his clinging wife down from his back to lay across the bed.

"I'll be back in a minute," he told her with a nod before turning and stepping out of the room with a heavy, weary sigh.

Sasuke took a brief moment to collect himself and shake his head, before walking over to Sarada's room to briefly peek in and check on her. Finding her in the same position she was in when he put her to bed, he closed the door and headed back downstairs.

Sasuke found himself trying to be more quiet than usual as he tread down the steps and into the kitchen, as if Sakura's stabbing hangover had already arrived and he was reluctant to make any noise at all. He filled a tall glass with cool tap water before turning and taking a long look around their living room again.

He stood still and quietly for a full minute, sensing that something was just… off for some reason. Eventually, he brushed it off, set his mind back to getting Sakura her water and putting her to bed, and headed back up the steps. He peeked slightly again into his daughter's room before returning to his own to find that in the time between his leaving the room and coming back, Sakura had thrown all of her clothes and undergarments to the floor and was sprawled out over the sheets, passed out.

"…Sakura," he sighed, walking over to attempt to stir her awake, to no avail. Even when he tried to sit her up, she wouldn't wake up. Sasuke pinched his nose at the thought of nursing her hangover the next morning as he undressed himself as well and slid into bed, pulling Sakura comfortably against him and drifting off to sleep as well.

…

…

"Sasuke… How drunk was I last night?"

Her voice stirred him awake, and he opened one eye to peer down at the soft form nestled against him, her shoulders shrugged up painfully to her ears, and her entire bare form tense and rigid.

Sasuke closed his eye again and sighed. "Well…" he started. "You had Hinata in your lap with her pants pulled almost halfway down, kissing each other aggressively."

"Uuuuuuuugh…"

"And on the way back home, you were mumbling in my ear about a foursome, a wife swap, and whether or not I wanted to fuck Hinata's fat ass."

"I _said_ that?!"

"You were _that_ drunk."

"_Uuuuuuuuuugh…_"

Sakura whined loudly and lifted the covers over her head. He could feel how warm her body was getting with embarrassment, and started to chuckle when he heard a knock at the bedroom door.

"Papa…? Is Mama alright?"

Sasuke could almost imagine the look of concern etched on his daughter's face and shook his head with a smile. "She's fine, Sarada. She's had a long night and now she's a little sick, is all. Do you need anything? Are you hungry?"

"No, I can make my own breakfast…" Sarada replied. "I just wanted to know if I could go out and visit Himawari today."

"Sure, sure," Sasuke answered, sitting up.

"Can… I stay the whole day over there?"

Sasuke lifted a brow. "I don't see why not. Just come back when you're ready to."

"Can… I sleep over at Hima's house?"

Sasuke chuckled lightly under his breath. It was the start of a sisterhood, he supposed. "It's fine with me, but that's a question you'll also have to ask Himawari's parents."

"Alright, thanks, Papa! I'll see you later! Take good care of Mama!"

Sasuke listened to his daughter's footsteps retreat from the bedroom door and start to head downstairs. It warmed his heart to hear that she was no longer distraught and forlorn about her family name. Naruto's words yesterday strengthened his hope as well that Sarada would be able to someday change how the world saw the Uchiha name…

"Mm… I take it yesterday's outing with Sarada went well?" Sakura groaned, pulling the covers from over her head and sitting up as well. She closed her eyes and brought her hands to her head, using her Healing Jutsu to try to ease her splitting hangover.

Sasuke leaned back against the headboard and nodded. "Very. I brought Naruto and Himawari along to help. Everything turned out well. I can already tell that _you_ had fun yesterday."

"Sasuke, make me feel a little better and tell me we at least had sex last night."

"We didn't. For a few reasons. Firstly, you passed out soon after I put you in bed, and you wouldn't wake up. Second, you weren't yourself. I wasn't about to take advantage of you when you clearly weren't in your right mind. Third, I suspected you wouldn't remember the next morning anyway, even if we did, and the fact that you're asking means that I was right."

Sakura nodded as she continued to numb her pain with her healing jutsu. "Well, will you have sex with me now? This isn't exactly medical theory, but… maybe pleasure will make the pain go away faster. Just so long as you don't touch my head."

Sasuke lifted a brow at Sakura, who looked at him with an almost adorably pleading look, thin brows knitted together, soft lips puckered in a pouty whine. He sighed and smirked.

"Alright, come here."

…

…

There were still people who stared. Not as many as when she was with her father, but Sarada could still feel the eyes on her. She did her best to shrug them off, and kept the Seventh's advice running through her mind all the way down toward the Hokage Residence.

They saw her father when they looked at her, but she was still a blank slate. She could do good and strive to better the world. She _would_ do good and better the world. Then they'd look at her with pride and admiration instead of suspicion and disdain, just like how it was with the Seventh and his life.

It brought a smile to her face, and the uncomfortable atmosphere rolled mostly off her back as she eventually left the main road and approached the large mansion where the Seventh and his family stayed.

It took a minute of knocking before there was an answer, and Sarada blinked and adjusted her glasses upon taking in a worn-looking Naruto as he opened the door.

"Oh! You're… not in the office today, Seventh?" she asked after a quick and respectful bow.

"Oh, I am! Sort of. Shadow Clone," he explained as he looked back into the house over his shoulder. "Hinata is, ah… a little sick today. Had a bit of a long night… So I'm trying to be in two places at once. I wasn't expecting you; did you need something?"

"Well, two things," Sarada said, clearing her throat. "First, I was just wondering if Himawari was home, and… I wanted to ask if maybe I could sleep overnight here with Hima? Papa already told me it was alright with him if it was alright with you." Sarada gestured to the backpack she was carrying that she packed with nightclothes and toiletries after eating and before leaving the house.

Naruto glanced into his home again for a moment before answering. "Sleep over? Sure, sure, I don't mind! I'll take your things and go put them down in Himawari's room if you'd like. If you want to find Hima, she's with her aunt, training at the Hyuga Compound."

Sarada nodded with a smile and handed her backpack over to Naruto before bowing again. "Thank you so much! I hope Mrs. Hinata feels better soon!"

"Me too, Sarada, me too…" Naruto said with a slightly weary sigh under his breath as he watched Sarada head back down the walk for a moment before heading back inside.

As Sarada made her way back onto the main path to head in the other direction toward the Hyuga District, she tilted her head curiously. Both her own mother and Himawari's mother were 'a little sick' from having 'a bit of a long night'. She let it go after a minute of thought. Probably a coincidence.

…

…

The doors were locked, the house was quiet and empty, and the light streaming in past the closed blinds struck warm, pink-tinted light down on Sakura's soft, trembling form as she grasped gently at the bedsheets beneath her. Her back was arched, her eyes had fluttered closed, and her head was tilted aside to allow Sasuke to kiss slowly up her shoulder and neck while his fingers danced between her legs.

Sasuke was extremely careful to not even barely touch her aching head as he hooked his fingers teasingly within her and latched his teeth upon the lobe of her ear in the same moment. If Sakura was suspicious before about whether or not Sasuke electrified her body with his fingers, the faint humming she felt and the shivering in her loins that it caused erased all doubt. Sasuke's torturous skill drew out her longest, shakiest moan since he'd been back, and the agonizing pain of her hangover was further cushioned by the warmth of the pleasure flowing slowly through her form.

"You're seriously going to paralyze me one of these days…" she mumbled at him with a smile as he unhooked his fingers, released her ear, and returned to his gentle, steady dance.

Sasuke smirked back and returned his lips to her neck, making Sakura tense and shiver again as he rediscovered the still-tender spot on her neck where he marked and reddened her neck just a couple of nights ago. As he focused his lips, teeth, and tongue upon that sensitive spot once again, his teasing fingers sank home once again.

Sakura's fingers and toes curled against the sheets as she yelped up to the ceiling, nearly forgetting she was even in pain for a long few moments. No matter how used to him she thought she was at times, Sakura knew that this would never get old and she'd never stop enjoying the times they can spend being husband and wife, especially not now, as it seemed Sasuke was dedicating himself fully to pleasing her and keeping her from doing any of the work.

In retrospect, being hungover isn't as bad a feeling as Sakura initially woke up thinking it was.

…

…

Since Sarada couldn't remember the last time she had been down through the Hygua District, she'd forgotten just how much of an intimidating place it was. Compared to the rest of the village, with its more modern construction, the small section of the village in which the Hyuga clan made its home seemed had something of an antique and dated feeling to it.

The telephone poles she would barely half-notice around the village with their wires crisscrossing above the buildings weren't present at all here. The people walking around wore old styles of robes in only a few plain hues, typically white, black, or grey. The most unsettling part about the Hyuga District, however, was how quiet it was, compared to the bustling land around it.

Sarada barely caught anyone's eye. Those who did spare a glance in her direction did not look for very long before returning to their business. They all had the same eyes as Hanabi, so it was nearly impossible to tell exactly what they thought of her at a glance whenever they looked, and the rest of their neutral faces told about as much as their eyes did. Sarada thought her sensei's ever-stern expression was just a part of who she was, but… sternness and hard faces seemed to just run in the clan.

It reoccurred to Sarada while she was walking that not long ago, she punched the Hyuga clan heiress in the face, albeit accidentally… Even though Himawari certainly held no hard feelings, Sarada couldn't help but make herself nervous wondering if these other Hyugas were hiding hostile thoughts behind their calm, quick glances. Maybe that's why she was so intimidated walking through here…

Eventually, Sarada began to approach the largest building in the district, an impressively large section of interconnected structure surrounded by a wall, known around the village as the 'Hyuga Compound'. Protected on either end of the entrance gate by two tall, blank-eyed guards, Sarada was very hesitant to approach at first, and went nervously rigid when the stationed men turn their eyes toward her.

"Sarada Uchiha," one of the men identified her with a calm nod. "You're quite far from your home. What is it you need here?"

"I, um… I came to see Himawari. If that's alright, that is… S-She's here, right? The Seventh told me I could find her here training."

Both of the guards gave Sarada a careful look for a moment, as if they were wondering to themselves if it was safe to let her near Hima. After a moment, they looked at each other, then the one that addressed her spoke up again.

"Lady Himawari is here and currently training, indeed. And we normally do not allow outsiders to observe training sessions… But if you were sent by the Lord Hokage, and since it's been evident that Lady Himawari has taken a liking to you in particular, we'll make a small exception. You'll be allowed in, and you'll be monitored closely. Don't cause any trouble. Understood?"

"Yes, of course," Sarada immediately accedes with a quick bow.

The guard who hadn't spoken yet nodded for Sarada to follow him, and with a short breath and another quick adjustment of her glasses, she steps past the gate and closer toward the large compound.

Sarada had never really thought of Himawari as a princess, heir and future leader of the most powerful clan in the Hidden Leaf Village, one of the most influential clans in the Land of Fire, and one of the most well-known and well-respected clans in the entire _world._ But now that she was, every step closer to the doors of the compound and closer to Himawari made Sarada feel just that much smaller…

* * *

**You laughed immediately, didn't you? :3**

**The next few chapters are going to be pretty focused on Sarada and Himawari. ****Once night falls, then the story's going to kick back to Sasuke and Sakura. That's the plan, anyway. I'm mostly making this shit up as I go. xD**

** I have a good idea on what the climax of the story is going to be like, but it's _getting_ there that's the hard part. I want to keep this story going for as long as I can, because people seem to really like it, but the climax is in sight for me. Don't know long it's going to take to get there, but we're getting there. And once we get there, I'll be starting to wrap the story up so I can get to work on some other things I have in store. :D**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your**

**Hearts beat with**

**Calamity!**

**Till next time!**


	10. Heroic Heart

**Welcome back, lovelies! My last exam is actually finished now! You know what that means? I have the _whole_ summer to focus my energy into writing! Other things may come up on occasion that keeps me away from my computer, but for the most part, barring crippling writer's block, I should be able to put out more chapters more quickly!**

**Like I said in the last chapter, this arc of the story is focusing a bit more on Sarada and Himawari in particular. I only cut to Sakura and Sasuke in the bedroom once in this chapter. I hope that's alright with people, that I'm not putting too much focus right now on the lemons. Lemony goodness is wonderful, of course! But so is a decent story. :P**

**An original character is being introduced this chapter as well. I wasn't planning on adding any OCs at first, but this one just sort of came out, and I like him. :P After you've read, tell me if you like him, too!**

* * *

Sarada was almost afraid to speak as she stepped into the compound proper and removed her sandals at the door. The calm and quiet outside was nothing compared to the almost venerated hush within the structure's walls. It was like she was stepping into holy ground, and any undue noise was punishable sacrilege. As Sarada followed her escort and looked around, the only sounds she could hear were their own footsteps and the sounds of what seemed to be fighting going on in another room.

Sarada could also hear Himawari's voice, and her nervousness briefly gave way to curiosity. For as long as they've been classmates, Sarada's never seen Himawari actually fight or spar with anyone. Not at the Academy at least. She listened closely to the exchange of quick steps and palms clapping against flesh or being slapped away in the room they were approaching. She could also hear the strict voice of her sensei coaching Himawari and whoever she was sparring with.

Sarada's escort motioned for Sarada to stop at the door and entered the room first. Sarada stood as patiently as she could, but being as close as she was to actually seeing what it was like for a Hyuga to train made her fidgety. After a minute, the man stepped back out and gave Sarada a nod, silently motioning again that she could enter.

Sarada crept silently past the open sliding doors into a large dojo, which still seemed just as hallowed as the rest of the quiet compound. Along the farther wall stood Hanabi with her arms crossed and her large eyes fixed firmly on what was going on in front of her, while an elder Hyuga man with a lot of similar features to Hanabi stood at her side. Sarada recognized him as Hiashi Hyuga, former clan head before Hinata took the position with Hanabi as her second.

In the center of the dojo, Himawari and a young Hyuga boy she didn't recognize were locked in a rapid, relentless exchange of palm strikes, dodges, blocks and counters, both of them using each and every motion they make and step they take to attempt to outmaneuver the other and try to land a successful staggering blow.

Himawari's opponent ducked under a hard strike and spin-kicked to sweep her legs out from under her before rising quickly and lunging to attempt a pinning, finishing strike, but Himawari's reaction time was lightning-fast. As soon as she felt her feet swept up and her back began to hit the floor, she tucked and rolled backwards once, out of her opponent's reach and immediately back into a guarded position. Her opponent merely slams his palm against the floor, but immediately rises again, ready.

"Good save, Himawari. Don't let him trip you again," Hanabi warns firmly, then turns her eyes to the young man. "Don't get overconfident, Matsuro. Pursue your target. Don't expect them to stay down just because you catch them off guard once. Take advantage."

Sarada used the moment's pause in the sparring match to examine Himawari. She was no longer wearing the patch over her right eye. The clip that usually held that little strand of hair up on the top of her head was gone, making her hair seem as if it had gotten just a tad shorter. She was also wearing the most intense expression Sarada had ever seen on the goofy, hyperactive young girl, complete with her temples bulging with activated veins, and her eyes enlarged, with her pupils having almost totally faded away. She looked more like a Hyuga than an Uzumaki now, and Sarada had trouble believing that this was the same girl at first.

Her opponent, Matsuro, had long brown hair like Hanabi, tied off in a ponytail, and a face just as round and stern as hers, as well, with a Leaf Village forehead protector on his head. He looked to be a couple of years older than Himawari. Both of his eyes were frighteningly active with the Byakugan, with enlarged veins all over the sides of his face as well. The intensity of his look was making Sarada uncomfortable. He could only imagine how Hima, who he was actually looking at, was feeling…

The both of them were wearing dark blue shirts and pants with mesh under-armor underneath, their feet bare just like everyone else's. The two of them stood still for a very long moment before Himawari rushed forward and the exchange of quick, calculated strikes and dodges continued.

As the match carried on, Sarada noticed Matsuro was putting more and more pressure on Himawari's right side. Her bad side, where her eye had been wounded. And there was little Himawari could do to take the pressure off. Matsuro took Hanabi's advice to heart, and whenever Himawari attempted to dodge away to find a better defensive position, he pursued her relentlessly and would not let her have a break. It wasn't looking good.

Another low dodge from Matsuro made it look as if he was going to try another spin-kick, and Himawari jumped to dodge, accordingly. However, it turned out to be a feint. Halfway through what looked like the sweep, Matsuro rose suddenly and landed a quick, but effective blow on Himawari's stomach while she was in the air from her jump. There was no way she could keep from staggering.

When Himawari's feet touched back to the ground, she was terribly off-balance, leaving Matsuro open to finish it. He lunged forward, hooking one of his legs around Himawari's, driving one elbow into her back to bend her forward over his lunged knee, and using both hands to grab Himawari's farther arm and pull it back, twisting it in a brutal standing armlock that made Sarada cringe.

Himawari yelled out and grit her teeth, unable to gain the leverage to escape with her hooked leg and bent spine. She was helpless and shivering with the pain of having her arm an inch away from being snapped in half, and Sarada's heart began to race in fear.

"You should probably concede," Matsuro said with a furrowed brow. Himawari groaned and shook her head, and Sarada went rigid and bit her lip when she tried to break free by kicking her free foot back to try to nail Matsuro in the hip. If Matsuro flinched the wrong way, Hima's arm would have been broken by accident.

"Enough!" Hanabi called out quickly, and Matsuro immediately released Himawari, who fell forward onto the dojo floor, clutching her arm. Hanabi was frowning deeply.

"Were you going to sooner let him break your arm than surrender a lost match, Himawari?"

To Sarada's surprise, Himawari nodded her head. "Daddy told me never to give up, Aunt Hanabi."

Hanabi blinked before sighing, and Hiashi lifted a brow.

"Thoughts, father?" Hanabi asked the elder, and he nodded his head.

"First, it is good to see that my grandchildren have come so far. Both of you remind me of Hanabi when she was your age, and Hinata, later on. Matsuro."

The older boy stood still and attentively as he looked up at his grandfather.

"You have your mother's stern attitude and resolve, and you have skill and intuition to rival even Neji's, when he was your age. Develop that. Make it your own, and remember to use that powerful mind of yours to protect the Hyuga clan and the Leaf Village. Himawari."

Matsuro nodded and bowed curtly, and once Himawari had gotten to her feet, she let go of her arm and stood to listen to her grandfather's words as well.

"What the Lord Hokage has told you is an admirable sentiment, and I encourage you to keep it to heart. But in the future, try to measure what it's worth in the situation. Refusing to give up in the face of incredible danger on the field of battle is heroic. It is what saved this world. But risking a broken arm in a sparring match simply because you are stubborn is just foolish."

Himawari looked at the floor, but looked up again as her grandfather continued speaking.

"You have a heroic heart, Himawari. Make sure you use it well, understood?"

"I will, Grandpa. I promise."

"Good. Now it seems there's a visitor among us. For you, Himawari?"

Hiashi's empty stare now turned toward Sarada, who was so absorbed in watching everything that was going on that she'd almost forgotten she existed. Sarada immediately grew still and nervous, and when Himawari turned to look at her, the huge grin that spread on her face relaxed Sarada almost immediately. There was the Himawari she knew.

"Can I be dismissed, Grandpa? Aunt Hanabi?"

Hanabi lifted a brow at Sarada, glanced over at her father, then nodded at Hima. "For now. Your training's not over, but the both of you can take a break. Be ready to continue in an hour, got it?"

"Yes, Mother."

"Sure thing, Auntie!"

Sarada waved at her sensei, who offered a nod in return before turning to return to the opposite wall and sit beside her father. As soon as Hanabi turned, and after the two combatants turned toward each other and bowed low, Hima spun on her heel as well and ran straight into Sarada, throwing her arms around her friend in a big hug. Matsuro walked calmly over to join them as well.

"I wasn't expecting you, Sarada! You came all the way across the village to play with me?"

"W-Well, yeah…" Sarada started, rubbing the back of her head. "But that was before I found out you were training pretty intensely... I-I was stopping in to say hello. I can leave if you need to focus on-"

"Pfft! Oh, it's fine, Sarada, don't worry. It's just training," she snickered as she released her, then gestured to Matsuro. "This is Hanabi's son, Matsuro. I don't think you two have ever met. He graduated from the Academy last year, so he's a genin already."

"Sarada Uchiha," Matsuro identified her with a quick nod and an odd, hard look. "You're the one who allegedly injured Lady Himawari two days ago."

'_You're one to talk; you nearly broke her arm just now, you jerk.'_

That's what Sarada wanted to say, but she held her tongue and instead murmured, "It was just an accident."

Matsuro rolled his eyes. "Doesn't matter. You're still unstable as far as I'm aware. I've got my eye on you."

He brushed shoulders with Sarada as he passed her by and exited the dojo, and Sarada frowned. At least someone finally said what she was sure plenty of other Hyugas were thinking… Himawari sighed and grabbed her hand.

"Aw, don't worry about him. He's just protective. And he's a lot like Aunt Hanabi, too. He'll warm up with time. Come on!"

Himawari began to pull Sarada along through the large compound rather quickly, making Sarada immediately uncomfortable that they were making so much noise now, when she had been quiet and respectful for so long.

"I'll watch her now! You can go back to what you were doing!" Hima called back to the guard who had been escorting Sarada before as he started to pursue.

Sarada sighed softly as they rounded a corner. Hima's excitability was familiar, at least.

…

…

Sakura closed her eyes and let her mind wander off into warm and cloudy horizons. The headache was still there, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she was still annoyed and grumpy about it, and would probably go back to that once Sasuke stopped making love to her. But for the moment, she could care less about her pounding head. She'd completely lost herself to Sasuke's touch, and was desperate for him to give her more.

Sasuke had pulled her out of bed and carried her bare, blushing form out past the balcony doors, onto the rounded little platform that looked out over the Village below. Concerned that people might see them, Sakura cast a minor illusory ninjutsu, and in a light swirling shower of cherry blossom petals circling the balcony, they were invisible to anyone who may have looked in their direction.

She sighed comfortably, then moaned excitedly as she felt her husband's lips against her neck and his hand on her shoulder, guiding her forward into the balcony banister and starting to bend her forward. She peered over her shoulder and gazed into his eyes as he brought himself forward as well to nestle himself between her cheeks, gripping her hips as he slid slowly against her, every teasing caress against her making her more and more excited.

Finally, he kissed her lips with the tip of his length and released her hips. As his hips slowly slip forward, his touch drifted just as slowly up her waist, and by the time he'd hilted snugly within her, he'd taken a gentle hold of both breasts. Sakura stared down at the ground below them before closing her eyes and letting out a soft pant each time Sasuke would pull back and thrust forth in a steady rhythm.

To Sakura, it never got old, not even a little. Every time he slipped inside her was like the first, filling her heart not only with heated pleasure, but powerful joy and an unbreakable connection to the one she's loved for so long. Sakura didn't even realize that a tear had filled one eye until she felt his touch gently wipe it away, and she looked back toward him with a smile, wishing that this would never end.

…

…

"I don't think I've ever seen you look so serious, Himawari. Your training's a lot harder here than at the Academy, isn't it?"

"Yeah, kind of! It's not too bad most of the time. Some weekends, Aunt Hanabi has me and Matsuro barely able to move by the end, and I'm all sweaty and gross all over. Some weekends, it just like this!"

"With you almost having your arm broken in half? How is your arm by the way? And your eye?"

Himawari chuckled as they sat together in the shadows of a pretty, outdoor clearing somewhere within the maze of corridors and sliding doors, a little clearing of grass and a few trees, enclosed on all sides by the walls of the compound. She and Sarada had grabbed their shoes on their way past the entrance as they ran through the large building, and slipped them on to step outside in the dirt and grass.

In response to Sarada's concern, Himawari tapped underneath her right eye, circling her finger around where there was once bruised, raised skin.

"Oh, my eye's much better already. I was healing so fast that you could practically _watch_ the black eye go down and the bruise-y color going away. It was neat. I didn't really need the patch after the first day. I kept it because it looked cool, but Aunt Hanabi wanted me to take it off during training if I didn't need it. My arm? Eh."

Himawari rubbed her shoulder. "Real sore. It'll get better, though."

"You're not mad at Matsuro for almost breaking your arm?" Sarada asked, lifting a brow. She was still a bit ruffled at that whole situation, and wasn't sure how Hima could seem so okay with it.

Himawari shook her head and shrugged. "It's just the way he trains with me. It's not like he actually _wants_ to hurt me. He just doesn't hold back, and he tells me not to hold back, either, so we both can improve as much as possible. We've been training and sparring together for almost a year, and he's bruised me up and knocked me down plenty of times"

Himawari chuckled softly at Sarada's still-skeptical look. "Matsuro's actually very kind and protective when we're not sparring. He's only sore at you because of the punch. Like I said, he'll warm up. I like you, so he'll have to like you, too, eventually. Should we go find him?"

"No, no... Maybe another time. What do _you_ want to do? We have about… thirty minutes left before you need to go back to training, right?"

Himawari pouted. "I really don't want to go back to training since you came all this way to see me. It's fun, and I _like_ training, but I like you more! I say we ditch. Let's get some ramen!"

Sarada blinked as Himawari stood and stretched, and after a moment, she hesitantly stood as well. "You're… going to ditch training? Won't Hanabi-sensei be mad?"

"Yep," Himawari snickered. "As soon as she realizes we're gone, the Compound is gonna send Branch House scouts to hunt us down. That's why after we eat lunch, we're going to be playing what might be the most exciting game of tag in the world. Come on!"

Before Sarada could lift her voice in protest, Himawari leapt from her place beneath their tree, and right onto the roof of the complex before quickly leaping off elsewhere. Sarada furrowed her brows nervously and looked around before sighing and following after her.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it! :D Don't be afraid to tell me what you think with a review. It's always just a little bit discouraging to see my views and visitors per chapter literally in the _thousand__s_, but the reviews per chapter aren't even in the double digits. I don't mind _too_ much, and I absolutely love the reviews that I do get! But still! I wish I knew how to get more of you guys to share your thoughts with me. :P**

**Don't know when the next chapter's going up, admittedly, since I don't know exactly how it's going to go yet. xD I'll figure it out and post it up soon!**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your**

**Hearts beat with**

**Calamity!**

**Till next time~**


	11. The Hidden Leaf's Two Most Wanted

**Whoosh! Welcome back! I got this chapter out a lot faster than I thought I would. xD Hope you all enjoy it!**

**As of me typing this, Eleven Fifty-Four has over 21,000 views, making it my most popular story on the site by over 4k! :D That makes me so happy! Thanks for sticking with my story, guys!**

* * *

Sarada could safely have said that she had never been more terrified in her life while eating delicious food. Every other bite, she looked over her shoulder, expecting to see her sensei's furious face, or some other Hyugas with rope to bind her. She was already in a little bit of trouble for fighting, even though it was justified. General delinquency with the Hyuga clan heiress sounded to Sarada like a much _less_ appealing charge to have against her. And she was supposed to be trying to get people to _like_ her!

Himawari, on the other hand, was as calm and casual as she could be, as if they really were just out eating ramen and not being, as Hima herself had put it, 'hunted down'. She looked over at Sarada's tense expression and hunched up shoulders after stacking her fifth bowl of Ichiraku Ramen's daily special off to the side and signaling for another bowl.

"Gee, Sarada!" she snickered. "You look like you've got to take the scariest pee in the world. Just relax a little, why don't ya? Are you scared of getting in trouble?"

"Um… Maybe," Sarada murmured, looking over her shoulder again. "I really don't want Hanabi-sensei to yell at me, or to be hunted down, tied up and hauled back to the compound..."

"Aw, don't worry about that. I'm taking the fall for this; it's not your fault," Himawari said, then turned her attention to her sixth bowl of ramen. She subtly activated her Byakugan for a moment and stared at the wall beside them for a moment before letting it fade again and returning to her food. "I'm sure Aunt Hanabi's thinking that this was bound to happen sooner or later. All she might do is yell. It won't hurt the next morning."

Sarada sighed and tried to relax herself as much as possible, which wasn't much… "It's so easy for you to let things roll right off your back, Hima. If my mom yelled at me, it would definitely sting for a few days. But you can brush off someone twisting your arm in half like it was someone accidentally bumping your shoulder on the street. I wish I was as happy-go-lucky as you."

Himawari rolled her eyes. "You and arm-twisting today, Sarada. It's fine, trust me! How's the ramen?"

Sarada finally had a moment to acknowledge the stack of bowls beside Himawari and blinked. "It's really good… But I'm getting full already. You're six bowls in… Where the heck do you put it all, Hima?"

Himawari crossed her arms proudly. "My daddy shared his secret for holding down lots of ramen without getting full a long time ago! It's all about just g- Whoop, gotta go. They're close."

Sarada's heart leaped into her chest as Himawari stood from her seat and retrieved her wallet, hurrying toward the counter in the rear of the building. Sarada began to stand and follow, but as she turned her head toward the entrance, she spotted two robed Branch House ninja with active Byakugan and their forehead protectors hung like scarves around their necks, like Himawari's mother was known to wear hers.

As soon as the two of them spotted Sarada and Himawari, they squinted and started to run across the restaurant toward them.

"Hima!" Sarada squeaked, backing away rapidly toward the rear counter as well.

Himawari quickly set her wallet down on the counter in front of the elderly man standing behind it, speaking quickly to him as she climbed on top of the counter. "Keep it for now, Mr. Teuchi! There's enough money in it to cover all seven bowls, plus a tip! Sorry about this! Come on, Sarada!"

Himawari jumped behind the counter and ran back into Ichiraku's kitchen with Sarada right behind her, much to the old man's confusion. He stepped aside as the two Branch House ninja follow right after them, sending a bit of a murmur through the other patrons in the building.

Himawari sprinted as quickly as she could through the kitchen, slipping past the chefs in the back with hurried apologies while Sarada kept pace as much as possible. The two of them burst through the back door of the restaurant into an alleyway, and Sarada slammed the door behind them before tailing right after the still-charging Himawari.

"What are we gonna do?! Where are we going?!" Sarada called, pale with panic now. As they left the alley back onto one of the main roads, Sarada heard the sound of the back door opening again behind them, and only began to whine and panic more.

"We're gonna run! And we're going wherever we can! Woohoo!" Himawari responded as they sprinted down the road with their pursuers yelling after them.

Sarada was absolutely terrified. Her heart was racing at a million miles per hour, and even though her legs were already burning, she felt like she could run forever. It was… an exciting feeling, admittedly. This was a very dumb idea, with a 100% chance of failure and reprimand, but _damn_, it was a good rush.

…

…

Sasuke, too, wished sometimes that he and Sakura could stay like this forever. He wished that he didn't have to stay on the move to distract himself from even that small amount of irritating self-loathing left latched onto his soul. He wished that he could always have Sakura's moans in his ear to quiet the voices in his head, and the light in her eyes keeping him looking ahead and not drifting back to his past mistakes.

Sasuke's mind was a swirling pit of thoughts and wonders and fears. But he kept it all behind a straight expression, his eyes closed and his brows raised as Sakura rolled herself forward and backward in his lap, sliding herself against him and teasing them both as she breathed against his neck.

It occurred to Sasuke that it was getting to that point. Even in his own home, he couldn't stop journeying. What started with tingling wet fingers under the sheets of their bed turned into clapping flesh and groping breasts on their balcony, which had now turned into slow grinding and hushed breathing on their living room couch. At this rate, she'd be on her knees in the kitchen and finishing him off amidst the flowerbeds in the front yard.

"Ah, Sakura…" he breathed huskily in her ear, bringing his hands to firmly grip her lush, curvy rear as he drew her closer, sliding her moistness along his length at a hurried pace. Sakura's moans increased in frequency and amplitude accordingly, tingling his ear with her warm breath and sweet voice.

He carefully brushed the stray hairs from her forehead, mindful not to touch her head directly like she'd told him, which proved over time to be a more difficult promise to keep than he realized. Every time they looked into each other's eyes, Sasuke had the overwhelming urge to touch his forehead affectionately to hers. It frustrated him on some level that he couldn't do it when he really wanted to, and the fear was there, that at some point the urge would be too much and he would just headbutt her and ruin the _whole_ day... It was a puerile fear, but it was there, nonetheless.

It was why he tried to keep his head as far away from hers as he could, and take full initiative while they made love this time, but Sakura stubbornly insisted on contributing, briefly squirming with him on the couch to keep from being laid on her back. He gave up easily and let her do as she wished. It was simpler that way. Sakura never was the type to be completely passive in anything, anyway, so he should've seen this coming.

Sasuke grit his teeth and continued to pull her back and forth, grinding and sliding against each other as quickly as they could. Sakura's face eventually collapsed against his neck, and Sasuke opened his mouth to let out a long breath as he felt a tense, longing shiver roll through her form. He held his wife, and his breath, tightly for a long moment until the trembling passed and he could let out the breath slowly as he smirked at Sakura's red and blushing face panting against his neck. Few things pleased Sasuke more than watching and feeling his wife's shivering orgasms.

He let her rest for a few moments before giving her rump a firm little pat to get her to sit up a little. They stared at each other before Sasuke began to lean in to gently take Sakura's bottom lip between his teeth and tug teasingly before suckling her lip against his, teasing a kiss, but not quite getting there yet. He gripped her rear again and guided her hips up a bit before using one hand to adjust himself into position. Once he was situated, he guided her hips back down again, sliding her down onto him and leading into a full, gentle kiss on the lips at the same time.

Sakura's moans were music to his ears, and the taste of her lips was sweet against his own. With one hand still clasped firmly on one cheek, the other began to drift up Sakura's bare back, his fingers mapping every ridge of her spine, tracing the curve of her shoulder blades, and coming to rest just under the back of her neck before gliding over to grip a shoulder.

"Gentle now, Sasuke…" she cooed against his lips after pulling away for just a moment, before allowing him to recapture her lip between his teeth and pull her back into their warm embrace.

Heeding his wife's words, Sasuke lightened his grip just a tad and allowed her to start to build the rhythm. Her body shifted rhythmically, rising slowly up and down, letting the warm, wet, velvet grip of her insides caress him from every direction. She gripped his shoulders and groaned as he eventually found her rhythm and joined her with small rolls of his hips up against her as she slides down.

It was a much different feeling, of course, from drawing moans from her with his torturous fingers, or taking charge and bending her over something. The slow, easy way they moved against each other sent gentle waves of heat and warmth between them, edging their mutually sensitive bodies closer and closer to a final release.

The sight of her blushing, glistening body, the sound of her heated moans and the soft clap of their hips, the sweet smell of her arousal on the air, the taste of her supple lips, and the feeling of her full bare form, of everything she had being given away to him, of their hearts joining just as well as their bodies… it all became too much in a moment of blinding pleasure, and Sasuke pulled Sakura as close against him as he could, his entire body going tense.

Sakura hid her face in his shoulder and hugged her arms around his neck, readying herself as he thrust up as deeply as he could. He groaned out loudly as he pulsed and released, filling her body with a whole new different, beautiful warmth.

Neither had to say a word. It was more than clear to the both of them in that moment, and in every single one of their moments, that they loved each other with everything they had.

…

…

_*ring ring*_

_*ring ring*_

_*ri-*_

"Hello? Hanabi? What hap- …Did she? Well, she hasn't come back this way yet. I'd… I'd keep an eye out for her, but your sister has me, ah… ah… occupied. She's still a bit unwell and I'm trying to take care of her as best as- Hgk! –as I can. No, no! I'm fine! Hiccups… Ah… Well… My one Shadow Clone is tied up at the, uh, at the office, and I, uh… I really don't think I have the concentration to make another one. J-Just… Keep looking, I guess. I'd say this isn't like her, but it's sorta like _me_, so I can't be too surprised… Hehe… Sorry. Um… A-Alright, I'll see what I can do! Bye, Hanabi. …Boruto? Boruto, can you do me a fav- No, don't come upstairs! Can you do me a favor, please?"

…

…

The Hidden Leaf's Two Most Wanted had taken the chase from the streets to the rooftops. Scrambling just out of reach of their angry pursuers at every time proved to be more of an exciting time than Sarada first anticipated, and she was soon joining Himawari in her excited giggling, screaming whenever it looks like they're cornered and cheering whenever they slip away and resume the chase.

Two more Branch House scouts had joined the pursuit less than an hour after it started, and as often as they could, they attempted to surround and overtake them, but with the devious help of sneakily summoned Shadow Clones, Himawari always stayed one step ahead. Sarada tried her best to stay right on her friend's tail, and it was more a matter of luck and the fact that their focus was on Himawari that Sarada had not been caught first already.

"Get ready!" Himawari warned, using her active Byakugan to spot the scout waiting to ambush them on the next roof ledge. "Duck!"

Himawari jumped just as she saw the scout begin to move, and Sarada listened and ducked, sliding down the slope of the roof they'd been running across. Hima dodged the scout's attempted grab and sprung off his shoulder, while Sarada slipped underneath him as he staggered.

Himawari slid from wall to wall as she approached the ground, while Sarada simply fell and dropped into a roll to keep her from hurting herself. And in a flash, the two of them were off again, their pursuers clearly worn and frustrated that a couple of speedy Academy students were causing this much trouble for them…

"Isn't this fun? They're _so_ mad!" Himawari giggled as they ducked through the crowded streets again, watching the roofs as the scouts keep their eyes on their general location.

"How long can we evade them for?" Sarada asked. As exciting as it was, she was getting a little tired, and was really wondering how long they could go before they had to give up the chase, or finally got unlucky and made a wrong move.

Himawari stopped in the crowd and leaped back toward the rooftops when she saw that one of the scouts was fast approaching as the crowd dispersed to let him through. Sarada ducked away and watched as Himawari had seemingly leapt right into the clutches of the other three scouts as they all jump at once to capture her.

Himawari grinned and made a hand sign. "Body Blow!"

Right before the scouts could grab her, the three of them were suddenly blown backwards by a sudden burst of chakra expelled from Himawari's body. It was not strong enough to push them back too far, but just enough to give Himawari enough of an opening to successfully land on the roof and head off again. Sarada followed as quickly as she could along the ground before leaping up to join Himawari.

"We can do this _aaaaaaall_ day!" Himawari laughed, giving Sarada a high five.

The chase dragged on until Sarada and Himawari ended up sprinting through the fields beside the Academy where they had class during the week.

"Hima, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Lady Himawari, stop this at once!"

The both of them skidded to a halt and blinked as both Boruto and Matsuro leaped to the ground on either side of them.

"Bolt! Matsuro!" Himawari blinked, then grinned. "Don't tell me you two are going to be the fun police, too?"

"You're ruining my day, sis!" Boruto complained, scowling. "Instead of relaxing like I was supposed to be doing, Dad has me chasing after you and Sarada!"

Himawari crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at her brother. "What, you wanna fight about it?!"

Matsuro squinted and pointed a finger at Sarada. "I knew you were nothing but trouble. None of this was happening until _you_ stepped in. You're corrupting Lady Himawari, and I won't stand for it."

The excitement was wearing off. Sarada furrowed her brows and opened her mouth to respond, but Himawari was quicker.

"This wasn't Sarada's idea! If you're going to point any fingers, point them at me!" She took a basic Gentle Fist stance and smirked. "And our fun's not gonna stop without a fight, right, Sarada?"

Sarada was too taken aback to speak for a moment, and it took an elbow from Himawari to get her to respond.

"U-Uh, I d- I mean- B-Bu- Y-Yeah!" she stammered before reluctantly raising her fists as well.

"What do you say to a spar, you two? If you win, we'll give ourselves up! If we win, then you two will have been beaten up by girls, and I'll tell the _whooooooole_ Academy, Bolt!"

Matsuro shook his head and took a similar Gentle Fist stance. Boruto squinted and sighed before pulling off his black jacket and raising his fists.

"This is fucking dumb, Hima. But whatever, you're on."

"And you have to stop swearing for the next week if I win, Bolt!"

Sarada had no idea what Himawari had gotten them into. But at this point, doubts were silly. They were already fugitives, why not fight a little while they're at it? With that thought in mind, she rushed forward right behind Himawari, ready to put her skills to the test.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it! I personally don't think I'm the best at writing fight scenes... I'll see if I can find a few stories to read that have good fight scenes and learn as much as I can by example. Chapter 12 might actually take a bit longer to get out this time. n.n**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your**

**Hearts beat with**

**Calamity!**

**Till next time!**


	12. Headfirst Into An Ass-Kicking (Rewrite)

**Hey, guys! I'm back, after finishing Could Be Worse, and I have a few things I want to share. As you can probably tell from the 'new' Chapter 12 here, there's gonna be a few changes I'm gonna make with the story.**

**Concerning the Sasuke v. Kiba fight, that's no longer what the plan is. I've been thinking long and hard about this, and while I adore Kiba, have thought about writing a fight scene with him, and was super-excited to get his scene with Sasuke started, I don't know that I can go through with this scene the way I initially imagined it would go down.**

**I handled the last three chapters very poorly, in regards to the Kiba situation. I had him call Sasuke out in a pretty cowardly way that just wasn't right for Kiba's character, leaving a kunai in the door. Initially, it wasn't going to be Kiba who left it, but like I said earlier on, I mostly let the story take me where it wants to go. I don't outline anything, and I don't really plan much between the beginning and end. I just write. It works for me.**

**This was a poor bit of writing on my part, and I'm really sorry to you guys for putting that out. I'm sorry to myself, as well!**

**Because of this, I'm going to be rolling the chapters back and changing a few things. As I'm writing this, I never deleted chapters for a story before, so I don't know what this is going to do in terms of reviews and stuff. Hopefully, it won't delete reviews, since I like reading reviews. Even though they're reviews for chapters I don't like. :3**

**This is the first chapter I'm redoing, and there's not a lot of change. I just deleted the middle scene where Sasuke finds the kunai, and the last scene where Sasuke visits Tenten. I replaced it with a longer scene at the end, where Sasuke encounters the new challenger he's going to be fighting instead of Kiba. :P**

* * *

Sarada didn't often spar during classes at the Academy. Kunoichi were typically steered more toward excelling in espionage and team support. The few times she's trained with her father when he came around taught her a lot, she felt, but she still had barely tested herself against one opponent, let alone two. She was glad that Himawari was alongside her, at least…

Unsurprisingly, Matsuro came right for her, Byakugan active and palms poised to strike. As gallant as he looked, and as kind and polite as Himawari made him out to be, the genin was intimidating from head to toe, and Sarada knew that even with her father's training, she wasn't quite skilled enough to take him on.

Thankfully, Himawari was, and before Matsuro could get close enough to strike at Sarada, he was intercepted by a swift, staggering palm from Himawari, and was almost critically struck in the first few seconds of their spar. He dodged away from Himawari's powerful palm thrust and put more of his focus on her, while Sarada turned her eyes on Boruto.

Unlike Matsuro, Sarada had observed Boruto spar a few times before now. He was quick on his feet, blunt with his fists, and he knew how to throw simple feints with clones, a shoo-in for graduation in a couple of weeks. Sarada could take him, if she wasn't careless.

"Your knee any better?" she taunted.

"Can you take a joke yet?" he retorted with a smirk, using the Clone Jutsu and summoning two illusionary copies on either side of himself before all three of them sprinted forward.

Sarada kept her eyes squarely on the real Boruto, tracking his movements even as he and his clones begin to break form and move more disjointedly toward her, changing places, stopping and sprinting, and trying to confuse her. The real Boruto leapt into the air while the other clones charged, and Sarada was ready for the falling kick that was coming, whirling off to the side to avoid it, and turning to face Boruto again, only to stare right into a fist headed for her face.

Sarada's heart jumped for a moment and she nearly flinched and tried to deflect, but at the last moment, decided to keep still and let it come. The clone's fist passed through her harmlessly, and the _next_ fist, Boruto's actual attack, was then easily caught and-

Sarada stumbled forward with a blink as this fist also passed through her, and before she could turn her head, a third punch connected right with the side of her head. Sarada spiraled into the grass, but was quick to rise again, shaking her head and staring at the three Borutos.

"I swore that was the real you! How'd you end up behind me?"

The real Boruto, the one in the center again, crossed his arms and smirked, and his two clones followed suit. "Little trick my dad taught me when he had time to actually be a dad. I'm not good enough for shadow clones yet, so he taught me something almost as good: Clone Transfer. I can swap places with any clone I want, once or twice every while. Takes a bunch of chakra, y'know?"

Sarada had a hard time understanding before she glanced down at the center Boruto's shadow, just in time to see it disappear. Shadows were another easy way to tell a clone from the original, as clones didn't have shadows. But now… _none_ of the Borutos had shadows. Which could only mean-

Sarada gasped and leaped, a split second before the real Boruto burst out of the ground at her feet and swung a hard, readied uppercut. If Sarada had delayed a moment longer, she would've taken the full brunt of the blow and been out for sure, but she just managed to skim away enough to only be knocked lightly on the chin as she leaped backwards.

He summoned another clone after the first punch passed through her and hid it underground, she realized. She underestimated Boruto… As much as an insufferable dope as he was, he was way cleverer than she gave him credit for. But as much chakra as his clone transfers had to be expending, she knew he couldn't keep up this advantage for long. She could still take him.

It was Sarada's turn to go on the offensive, rushing forward to swing and strike at Boruto while he wasn't surrounded by his posse of clones. Close-quarters combat was definitely where she had the advantage, and in the few seconds she had before Boruto's clones rejoined the fray and she had to concentrate again, she managed to land a few staggering blows, pushes, and a solid elbow to the gut.

When all four Borutos came at her again in retaliation, Sarada did not relent. Though the clones got in her way, she pushed past them whenever she could, keeping her eyes on the original's shadow and continuing to harass him with attacks whenever she was able, pushing him harder and harder, waiting for the right moment…

After several dodges and strafes, Boruto finally managed a successful roll under one of Sarada's blows to get behind her. Sarada whirled around quickly on her heel and wound up a solid swing, and even as she did, everything in Sarada's eyes seemed to begin moving in slow motion. She noticed things in the blink of an eye, like the shadow passing over her forehead, and the way the hair of the Boruto she was about to punch didn't move with the breeze. And she adjusted her stance accordingly, bringing her feet out from under herself, using the momentum from her punch to feint into a roll, passing through the fake Boruto and dodging the real Boruto's overhead strike attempt.

Boruto landed hard, stunned for just a second long enough for Sarada to turn completely again, every easy, fluid motion timed precisely. It all culminated in one loud, victorious "CHA!" as she slammed her fist right on the top of Boruto's head and causing him to reel and hiss in pain with his body hunched and his hands on his head.

The next moment, however, Sarada's victory is shattered by a heavy weight slamming into her from the side and sending her spiraling across the grass. She was dazed, and it took her a moment before she realized it was Himawari who slammed into her and quickly helped her up.

"He's tough," Hima sighed, shaking her head back and forth as she recovered her bearings and took another stance. Sarada readjusted her glasses and squinted at Matsuro who stood beside Boruto.

"I'm good, I'm good… Just… Agh… Gimme a moment, _shit…_" Boruto grumbled, getting to his feet and pacing in a small circle as he rubbed the top of his head.

Matsuro shook his head and sighed. "I'll deal with them both," he declared simply and casually, as if he'd barely broken a sweat going toe to toe with Hima, while she herself was already worn, tired, and sweaty.

Sarada gulped. 'Tough' was a little bit of an understatement. Sarada had only witnessed firsthand how the Hyuga fought just _this morning_. Matsuro was a genin. He was angry at her. And he had proven himself a match for his cousin already. It was far too late to back down, so she charged forward beside Himwari fully conscious that she was running headfirst into an ass-kicking.

She had no delusions about winning. Sarada's mind was working and strategizing around drawing Matsuro's attention. She was hoping that he would be so distracted kicking her ass that Himawari could eke out a win for them at her expense. The faint, slim hope that their combined might could overpower him was also there. Maybe?

Nope. Matsuro was much too fast. He slipped around both Sarada and Himawari's punches and palm strikes. Even when Himawari lunged into a quick roll to try to cover Matsuro's other side, he just did the same, ducking into his own roll to Sarada's back side. Sarada turned as fast as she could, and raised her arms to block Matsuro's blows on instinct. Three quick palm strikes effortlessly break her defensive stance and send ringing pain through her arms. A fourth sends the heel of his palm right into Sarada's stomach, sending her staggering backwards and almost falling.

Himawari caught Sarada and steadied her before moving past her to counter Matsuro before his assault could continue. Discomfort rolled up and down Sarada's spine as she tried to center herself. All four of his strikes, although soft, hurt like hell underneath her skin. But she took a solid note of the fact that blocking the Gentle Fist was almost as damaging as getting hit point-blank. The way Himawari moved and the way she moved fluidly and crossed her wrist against Matsuro's to batter away his palms… Dodging and deflection were her only two options.

Steeling her nerves, Sarada rushed right back into the fray, just as Matsuro managed to briefly stagger Himawari again with a successful strike to the shoulder. She did a little better for a moment longer. The first two strikes were tensely parried away. She dodged the third, but could not move in time for the fourth. At the same moment, Himawari lunged as well, and as Matsuro's palm struck Sarada's ribs, Hima gave Matsuro a powerful palm to the ribs as well.

She was succeeding at being a distraction, at least. Sarada overestimated just how much of the Gentle Fist she could take, however. She noted the possibility of focusing chakra near the point of impact a split-second before the strike to cushion against the damaging burst of chakra and lessen the damage. A feat that required master chakra control and hair-trigger timing… She couldn't do it today, but she kept it in mind to try to learn eventually.

"We've got him on the ropes!" Himawari lied, pressing the attack and trying to land a few more quick strikes while Sarada stumbled forward and tried to help as much as possible. The unflappable genin was quick to go back on the defensive, waiting for a mistake, for Himawari to give him an opening.

One wide strike from Himawari nearly grazed Sarada's arm on the way forward, and she flinched for a half a moment, her strike hesitant because of it. Matsuro used the flinch to deflect the strike and leave Himawari open before pushing both palms forward with a yell. Bursts of forceful chakra blasted from his palms, knocking Himawari and Sarada head-over-heels backwards through the grass. With Himawari already battered and Sarada completely unready for something like this, both of them had a difficult time standing.

"You can't win like this," Matsuro sighed, crossing his arms. "Just give up now, so you won't need to be carried back to the compound."

"He's right…" Sarada groaned. "We had a good run, Hima, but I think-"

"There's one more thing we can try…" Himawari panted, adopting another serious look. "I hoped it wouldn't have to come to this, but Matsuro leaves me no choice. I know a powerful forbidden jutsu, Sarada. I snuck into my daddy's home office last week and peeked at his scrolls. Daddy's mastery of this jutsu saved the _world_, and the scroll said that the stronger the opponent, the more likely this jutsu is to work. We could turn this around and win with this! But I need your help…"

Sarada gulped and listened closely as Himawari whispered in her ear. And as Himawari revealed the details of the power she held, Sarada's eyes widened and her face went pale.

"H-Hima… That… There's no way that I can-"

"You _can! _I believe in you, Sarada! This is our last chance, and there's nothing left for us to lose! I know how you're feeling, but just trust me! Trust in yourself! We can _win_ with this, but only if we do it together. …Do you trust me, Sarada?"

She looked at the ground for a long moment before exhaling and balling her fists. "I trust you, Hima. Let's… Let's do this!"

Both of them took another ready stance, and Matsuro squinted, shaking his head and readying himself as well to counter whatever was coming as both Himawari and Sarada charged forward. Sarada leapt into the air, and Matsuro shifted again as he watched the both of them make hand signs.

"Predictable. Attacking from both ground and air won't get past-"

"Transform!"

Matsuro paused, his mouth open and his mind going blank. In front of him, Himawari went up in a flash, and was instantly replaced by a grown naked woman with long gloomy blue hair done up in giant pigtails, her body wreathed in misty clouds as she ran giggling toward Matsuro with arms outstretched. Above, Sarada had also transformed into a similar shape as Himawari, only with curly jet-black hair, bangs covering one eye while the rest was held back in a huge ponytail. Sarada's new form was brightly blushing and squealing with glee as she dove through the air with her arms extended as well.

Matsuro was not expecting this. He went rigid with shock, struggling to process the sight before him, and his state of being taken aback was just the opening the two of them needed. Sarada rolled forward in the air and canceled her transformation with her leg extended for a flying kick. All Matsuro could do to try to recover was lift his arms to block, but he still staggered, and even more so after Sarada pushed off her foot away from him.

Himawari's opening came, and she canceled her transformation as well, lunging forward quickly now that his defenses had fallen and landing two solid strikes on his torso.

"Two Palms!"

As Matsuro was pushed back, Himawari stepped forward and pressed the attack with another two strikes even faster, before making a quick side step and focusing four more strikes along his right arm at an even faster pace than that.

"Four Palms! Eight Palms!"

The more strikes Himawari landed, the more difficult it was for Matsuro to move, and after the eighth palm, it was impossible for him to try to recover and defend against Himawari's subsequent strikes as she whirled about on her heel, almost like a dance around Matsuro, rapidly striking eight more times in calculated location along his back, his legs, and his other arm, before finally returning to his front side for the last blow, a flick on the forehead.

"Eight Trigrams: Sixteen Palms!"

Matsuro was so battered by the barrage of attacks and the disturbance to his chakra flow that he couldn't even maintain his Byakugan, and with his defenses still shattered, Himawari lunged in to finish it. She hooked one leg around Matsuro's and drove her elbow into his back to bend him forward over her lunged knee, before using both hands to grab Matsuro's farther arm and pull it back, twisting it into the same brutal standing armlock that Matsuro had defeated her with this morning.

"You should probably concede," Himawari echoed him with a grin, and it took Matsuro only a few moments to grit his teeth and oblige.

"Fine, I yield."

Himawari cheered at the air as she released Matsuro and allowed him to stand and stretch his arm.

"That was a shamefully inappropriate move for you to formulate, Lady Himawari… I'll have to ask that you never use it again. You're above using such strange, desperate tactics to win."

Himawari stuck her tongue out at Matsuro. Sarada could've almost laughed. She could hardly believe that stupid jutsu was actually stupid enough to catch Matsuro off-guard like that. She also had a hard time believing such a jutsu actually helped to save the world...

Sarada was so dazed that she didn't notice Himawari running up to tackle-hug her to the ground and sit on her stomach.

"See, Sarada? I told you the Sexy Jutsu would work, didn't I?"

"Hima, please don't ever make me do that again…"

She rolled her eyes as her Byakugan faded and her eyes returned to normal, then looked up and smiled even wider.

"Did you see us, Auntie? We beat the odds! Are you proud of us?"

Sarada looked up as well, and her eyes widened at the sight of her sensei looming over the two of them, her head blocking the sun and with a glare so intense that it could boil water.

Sarada pointed at Himawari. "It was her idea. Please don't kill us."

…

…

A couple of long showers were very much in order. Sasuke found it interesting how bathing after they made love seemed to affect them. He stepped out of the bathroom feeling refreshed, relaxed, and alert, with the energy to move on with the day, find things to get done, or just walk around with his thoughts, as he was wont to do.

Sakura, on the other hand, stepped out of the bathroom more tired than when she went in, and collapsed on the bed with a groan without even drying off. Assuming that the hangover had caught up to her again, Sasuke did his best to help his wife fully into bed before deciding to make a silent exit and let her sleep off her fatigue in peace.

The morning air outside was still as warm and bright as when he and Sakura were out on the balcony, and Sasuke squinted against the sun's rays as he made his way up the pathway from his house to the quiet side street heading toward the main road. Sasuke didn't have time to let a single thought cross his mind.

Even though he hadn't seen anything coming down the road when he first looked, he heard him just in time, and with a hair-trigger reaction time, Sasuke quickly dodged to the side to avoid the extended leg flying through the air that had been aimed right at his back. The Dynamic Entry grazed his arm slightly and caused him to stagger slightly, but Sasuke was otherwise unharmed by the attack.

He frowned deeply and squinted as the attacker lands on his feet and skids across the ground for a moment, kicking up an obscuring cloud of dust. Sasuke watched carefully as his attacker stood in the dust cloud like a menacing silhouette before speaking.

"I've been waiting for you, Sasuke Uchiha. The time for waiting is now finally over, and the time for a _new_ springtime of passionate, overflowing youthful rivalry..."

The figure in the dust clapped loudly once, and the force was enough to completely blow away the dust cloud surrounding him, revealing a green jumpsuit with ripped sleeves, an orange neckwarmer and legwarmers, and large, round eyes staring intensely at Sasuke's face. He took a perfect crane stance as he continued to yell loudly at Sasuke.

"...begins _NOW__!_ I, Rock Lee, challenge _you_, Sasuke Uchiha, to a monumental battle that will continue the eternal struggle for superiority started by our masters! What say you?!"

There was a long moment of silence as the wind whistled between them, and Sasuke blinked slowly at Lee before sighing and turning to walk down the road in the other direction. "Not interested. Maybe some other time, Lee."

Immediately, Lee broke down and groaned, following after Sasuke. "Oh, come on! You've been saying 'Some other time.' for months now! Why won't you fight me?!" he complains.

* * *

**Surprise! Rock Lee punches in to challenge Sasuke and... is immediately rejected. Don't worry, though! Lee is a persistent fellow. I remembered early on in the story I said something about Sasuke training with Lee. I thought it would be better to go on that, than to mess up Kiba's character doing it how I did before, or have him awkwardly come up to Sasuke to challenge him directly. I liked the idea of Sasuke v. Kiba, but I'm more comfortable with Sasuke v. Lee, so that's what I'm going with!**

**I'm rolling back and reposting all of the chapters from chapter 12 to chapter 15, except for chapter 14. Most of Chapter 14 will have to go, and what's left will be amended onto chapter 13. I'm posting all of these at once, so you should have gotten an alert about two other new chapters at the same time as this one. :P Go read them!**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your~**

**Hearts beat with~**

**Calamity~!**

**Till next time!**


	13. Burning, Youthful Will (Rewrite)

**Welcome back to the new version of Chapter 13! Well, more of a combined version of chapter 13 and 14. More is going to change in this chapter than in the last chapter. The scene where Boruto and Sarada encounter Sasuke and follow after him is going to change, and Sakura's phone call with Tenten has been cut.**

**Most of Chapter 14 had to be cut out as well, since the Sasuke v. Kiba fight is now the Sasuke v. Lee fight, and what I could keep is being reworked into a new scene at the end of this chapter. Chapter 15 will now be Chapter 14, and I don't think I'll have to change too much, but we'll see.  
**

**Onward!**

* * *

Like she said she would, Himawari took most of the fall for the little fiasco she sent them on, but Sarada didn't escape Hanabi's disappointed glare for being an accessory, even if she didn't yell at her directly. While Himawari and Matsuro went back to the compound, Boruto was told to take Sarada home.

"You know I'm staying at your place tonight, right?" she asked him. Boruto rolled his eyes.

"Oh, so you can brag to me all night about how you got lucky this one time?" he snorted.

Sarada smirked. "Well, _now_ that's part of why I'm staying. I realized that I need to start getting closer to the friends I have now, as well as trying to make new friends along the way. You and Hima are my friends, right?"

"I guess. You're kind of square." Boruto laughed as she then punched him on the shoulder, then shook his head. "I'm kidding. You're alright. And I _guess_ you can fight. But like I said, you got lucky. My nose itched when I was coming down from that kick. If I wasn't distracted, I would've won easily!"

"Yeah, right. I read your moves like a book. If you're gonna nickname yourself 'Bolt', you're gonna have to be a little faster than that." Sarada scoffed, earning herself her own punch on the shoulder as she smirked.

"Whatever, Salad Girl… I want a rematch one of these days! Promise you'll fight me for real in the Chunin Exams, when we're both a bit better."

Sarada tilted her head. The Chunin Exams seemed so far away from now. Then again, that meant plenty of time to train and get skilled enough to be able to thrash Boruto even more easily than today. She smirked and nodded.

"It's a promise. Don't make it too easy for me."

Before Boruto could respond with another snarky response, he squinted ahead at something in the distance, furling his brows. "Hey, is that your dad over there?"

Sarada blinked and adjusted her glasses, squinting ahead as well and noticing her father's tall figure, dark hair, and darker cloak, alongside another tall man wearing a green jumpsuit, who seemed to be talking excitedly to her father, while Sasuke seemed more annoyed than interested in talking. Sarada recognized him as Rock Lee, one of the greatest ninja of the last generation, alongside Sasuke, Naruto, and the rest of their teammates.

"Um… Yeah, I think so. You go on ahead to your dad's house, and I'll catch up with you. I'm gonna say hi."

Sarada ran ahead, and Boruto shook his head and followed right after her. "No way! Your dad's cool; I wanna say hi to him, too!"

She ignored him, but didn't stop him from following. Sarada was much too curious to find out what it was her father got up to when he wasn't at home.

…

…

_I was lucky that neither of them had the right mind to change the locks on my door. I had no issue with breaking into my own house, but not having to meant that this was going to be easier than I thought._

_A filthy wave of homesickness washed over my soul the moment I stepped over the threshold. The scent of gentle spring breezes still drifted lazily through the halls. It felt as if I still lived here, even though some of the furniture was different and every picture that included me had been taken down from the walls._

_Everything was sleepily quiet, except for the soft hiss of water from the shower upstairs. There was never going to be an opportunity like this again, so I wasted no time. I crept as quietly as I could up the steps, thankful that they didn't creak. The bathroom door at the end of the second floor hallway was partially open, and that small crack in the doorway breathed faint steam._

_I sighed and tucked my house key back into the front of my vest, stretching my arms and fingers as I approached the door. As well as I could, I ignored the memories of pleasure and contentment I used to have in this house as they drifted through my mind with each step forward I took. Luckily, the scent of an unfamiliar body wash pulled me from my trip down my memory's sewers._

_I took a deep breath as I set my hand on the door, and exhaled again as I pushed it open and looked straight ahead. And there she was. I didn't know why I expected her to look different after only three months. You always expect someone's second face to look much uglier than the one you were used to. But she was still my older sister._

_She still had the same features that I had, but amplified. The same flowing chocolate locks, the same taller, more slender figure. As I silently closed and locked the bathroom door behind me, I heard the same soft, melodious voice humming a peaceful, unsuspecting tune. She was still so unattainably beautiful._

_I reached into the shower and pulled off the shower head. She gasped and turned her head as she finally noticed, and as soon I saw the same bright green eyes we shared, I clubbed her right in the face with it. Twice. She screamed in pain and panic, flinching away and trying to cover her face and defend herself. I smashed her one more time on the back of the head before throwing the shower head at her and stepping into the small stuffy space with her._

"_Soni, stop!" my sister cried. I didn't. I punched her in the stomach. I elbowed her in the back when she keeled forward. And when she fell onto the cold hard shower floor, I stomped on her naked body with hard-soled sandals, kicking her in the chest whenever I could. She writhed and coughed, begging me to stop._

_Had I caught her with clothes on, we would've battled up and down that entire house, knocking over furniture, breaking glassware over each other's heads, screaming and cursing. And I'd have had to beat her in time to avoid putting the tracker ninjas back on my tail. This was a much more preferable, if disappointing, turn of events._

_When I was satisfied with the fresh, vivid bruises blooming on her perfect skin, I gave her a moment to breathe before taking a firm hold of those beautiful brown tresses and hauling her to her feet before tossing her out of the shower. She slammed into the door and crumpled back down to a seat on the floor, sobbing._

"_I'm in a good mood right now, Sani," I told my sister calmly as I stepped out of the shower with dripping clothes, casually kneeled before her and looked into her teary eyes. "So I'm going to ask you a question. I'm going to ask you this once. And if you say one word that isn't phrased as an answer to my question, I'm going to be very upset. Where are they keeping my husband?"_

Sakura shifted under the covers and bit her lip as she turned the page and continued to read, immersed in _Make-Out Hurricane's_ surprisingly engaging story and absolutely enamored by Hinata's simple and elegant prose. It was almost as if some part of her rested within the pages as an all-knowing ghostly bystander, watching everything play out so vividly before her eyes.

That image of the hardened and determined heroine's treacherous older sister getting thrashed, naked in the bathroom was an… odd image to get aroused to, Sakura knew. But the book itself was so disarming and sensual in an overall sense that even the image of a no-holds-barred beatdown was enough to get Sakura's fingers moving shamelessly and her body wiggling beneath the sheets.

By then, her unbearable pain had dulled into an irritable headache. She'd have to take note that sex and sleep might be a viable, reliable remedy for a bad hangover, but it might require more extensive testing in the future. The thought made her smirk, and her mind invariably drifted back toward her husband. Already, half the time that Sasuke would usually spend with them had passed, and in no time at all, he would be gone again, and her bed would be empty again. She hoped it wouldn't be for as long this time.

Sakura shook her head, dogearing her page and sliding out of bed to gather up her messy sheets and carry them downstairs. Alone in her own home with the curtains drawn in and the doors locked, she saw no reason to put on any clothes, and strode about comfortably nude as she crossed the house and took care of various little things that needed doing. She quickly realized she was bored, and her sudden withdrawal from the lively company of other people was making her anxious...

Finally, Sakura decided to put on clothes, and redressed in a tight, casual red shirt and black pants, locking up the house behind her as she headed out as well.

...

...

"I'm not gonna give up on this, Sasuke! Guy-sensei pursued his challenge with Kakashi-sensei for months, and I'm fully prepared to do the same!"

Sasuke quickly learned that he could not maintain the same level of patient disinterest as Kakashi could. It took less than ten minutes of walking around the Village with Lee at his back and in his ear before he became visibly flustered. The idea that this would become an ongoing event whenever he came home didn't help, either.

"Lee, why do you want to fight me so badly? I'm not worth your time, trust me."

"Not worth my time?! You're Sasuke Uchiha!" Lee loudly declared, successfully getting the entire main road to stare at him again, just as they had during his first morning back, taking Sarada to the Academy. "Easily one of the most feared and powerful shinobi known to man! Even if I were to be horribly maimed and not be able to land a finger on you, just the opportunity to spar and get a taste of the power _I_ will be training and working to exceed will be the greatest boon!"

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. "Lee, you're a serious opponent. I haven't fought a serious opponent in years."

"The fact that you think you've gotten soft is all the more reason to regain your mettle stoking this rivalry!" Lee pressed, clenching his fists eagerly. "Let me fight you, Sasuke! Let me help you get back the burning, youthful will to fight and better yourself!"

Sasuke sighed, and opened his mouth to refuse him again, but before he could speak, another familiar voice called out.

"Papa?"

Sasuke raised a brow, and both him and Lee turned their head and watched as his daughter ran up to approach them, with Naruto's son trailing right behind. Sasuke did not like the gleam of opportunity in Lee's eye.

"Hello, Sarada... I'm sorry, but now's not really the best time to talk."

"Nonsense!" Lee objected. "Sasuke and I are not busy in the least right now! What is it you need?"

Sarada visibly flinched at Lee's volume, and analyzed him for a long moment, looking curiously between him and her father, before speaking slowly.

"Well... I don't _need_ anything, really. I was just wondering what was going on and what you were doing."

_Dammit._

Lee spoke before Sasuke had an opportunity to. "What's going is quite simple. I have challenged your father to a simple friendly spar! Do you, daughter of Sasuke Uchiha, think that he should accept this challenge?"

Sasuke did not like the gleam of curiosity in his daughter's eye...

"This is nothing really important, Sarada. You don't have to answer," he sighed.

"Actually... I'd love to see you fight, Papa! You've shown me a little bit of what you know, but I've never seen you _actually _fight seriously before! Can I come?"

"Me too!" Boruto chimed in.

Lee, now armed with fresh new ammunition, continued his goading before Sasuke could get a word in. "Your own daughter wants to see this happen, Sasuke! Look at the joy in her eyes! I would gladly have invited my son along with me to watch, but young Lee is currently on his fiftieth lap around the outer gates of the Village, and he still has another fifty to go. Will you really look your daughter in the eyes and deny her the opportunity to witness such an epic battle?"

Sasuke and Sarada met eyes, and he felt himself starting to crack. He grit his teeth and shook his head. "We'll fight, Lee, but not today. The reason I'm out right now is because I'm fetching medicine to take care of my sick wife back at home. You must understand, I'm in no mood to-"

"Sasuke?"

_Fuck._

Sasuke facepalmed and lowered his head. He didn't want to turn around to look behind him, but he sighed and forced himself to, looking right at Sakura, looking about as well as she could and holding a bottle of water.

Sasuke gave her a deadpan stare before speaking through gritted teeth. "Sakura. You are very sick. What are you doing here, out of bed?"

Sasuke did not like the gleam of mischief in his wife's eye... "I'm not sick anymore, Sasuke, it's just a little headache now. I was heading down to see if Hinata might need some company, or if Ino was in the shop today. What's this about a fight~?"

"Haha! You have no more excuses, Sasuke Uchiha! There is no better time than today! Face me! Unless you're scared?" Lee continued to taunt, arms crossed.

"Hey, my Papa's not afraid of anything! Show him, Papa, show him what you're made of!" Sarada cheered.

Sakura tapped her chin. "What do you get if you win, Lee?" she asked, refusing to allow Sasuke any say in this conversation. He was visibly frustrated.

Lee took a moment to think before his eyes gleamed and he stepped past Sasuke to take a knee in front of Sakura and brush his hair back in a blatantly romantic fashion.

"At first... the thrill of victory was more than a sufficient prize, but seeing you standing here now, Sakura, in all your glorious, eternally youthful, unattainable beauty... a much worthier prize has emerged: to the victor, a kiss from the loveliest blossom in the Hidden Leaf!"

Sakura forced herself to blush, and under Sasuke's cold, iron mask, he was seething and writhing in frustration. "I think that's a suitable prize," Sakura agrees. "What do you say, Sasuke? Keep in mind that refusing at this point is as good as forfeiting."

_Why are you doing this to me?_ is the question Sasuke asked with his eyes as he stared hard at his wife's innocent expression and listened to his daughter and Naruto's son egging him on behind him.

"Come on, Papa! You can't let _that_ guy kiss Mama! Fight for her!"

Sasuke's will fell to dust, and his eye twitched once before he looked at Lee. "Fine. What time and what place?"

Lee stood again, giving Sasuke a satisfied look. "As the challenger, it is not my place to decide the venue! Where would _you _like this to take place, Uchiha?"

Sasuke swore under his breath before giving it a moment of thought. "There's a stream and a clearing a few miles southeast of the Village gates. Meet there in two hours. ...Spectate from a safe distance," He directed his last comment toward his family and Boruto before stepping forward. He gave Sakura an electric stare as he passed, and she returned it with a smile and wave.

"We'll meet you there~!"

"Excellent! I shall go to prepare!" Lee cheered, before he disappeared down the street in a blinding blur.

Boruto grabs Sarada's arm. "We've got to tell Hima about this! Come on!" he said as he dragged her down the street again.

Sakura was the last to leave, but was pleased as well. This was sure to kill her boredom.

* * *

**Tada! Thanks for reading! Like I said, all this is going up at the same time, so Chapter 14 should already be up for you to read by the time you get here. I really liked how the last scene turned out. I already like it a lot better than I liked writing up the Sasuke v. Kiba fight. :3 Tell me what you guys think!**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your~**

**Hearts beat with~**

**Calamity~!**

**Till next time!**


	14. Completely Innocent (Rewrite)

**Welcome to the new chapter 14. Not much is going to change in this chapter, except for some meticulous details, and the scene with Hinata talking about the fight. All references to Kiba will be changed to Lee and made relevant, and so on!**

* * *

Walking up the path and through the doors of the Seventh's home after Boruto was a much more different feeling than going to see Himawari in the Hyuga District this morning. The sense of awe that washed over Sarada as she stepped over the threshold was breathtaking. Similar to the Hyuga Compound, the Hokage Residence felt like holy ground beneath the young Uchiha's feet, but unlike the Hyuga Compound, Sarada felt no timidity or reservation. She was much more familiar with Naruto than she was with the Hyuga clan. She knew that he didn't hold Himawari's injury against her. She felt much safer here.

Boruto turned his head and gave Sarada a weird look as he caught her wide-eyed ogling every little pretty detail of the space around her, from the chandeliers to the floor decors.

"Take it easy, will you? It's just a house."

"It's not _just_ a house, Boruto," Sarada sighed, and Boruto sneered and rolled his eyes in response.

"Suuuuure. It's my _dad's_ house. Because he's the greatest thing that existence has ever known, savior of the ninja world, hero and friend to all, praise be unto him, blah blah, I've heard it all before."

"It's the _Hokage's_ house, Boruto. This is where I'm going to live someday," Sarada said, turning her attention away from the foyer for a moment to cross her arms as she followed Boruto wherever he was headed. "Haven't you ever wanted to follow in your dad's footsteps?"

"Hell no. If being Hokage means always being busy and ignoring your kids on a regular basis, I think I'll pass, thanks. Hima! You home?!"

"Bolt, stop _yelling_! Don't you know that Mommy's _sick_ up here?!" responded Himawari's equally loud voice, followed shortly by a much quieter "Sorry, Mommy…"

Sarada glanced around as they drifted into a large and spacious living room easily twice the length of her own, and while Boruto stepped into the kitchen, Sarada sat on the closer of the twin sofas for a moment, feeling small. "Oh, well, what about your mom?"

Boruto lifted a brow and shook his head before rummaging through the fridge. "Even though I've got a Hyuga mom, I'm not a Hyuga. Or, I'm just the worst Hyuga ever. Trying to use the Byakugan does nothing but hurt my eyes. And I just don't like the sounds of leading _or_ following. I'm just going to be my own person with my own wife and my own kids, and I'm gonna be way stronger and better than _either_ of my parents."

Sarada stared at Boruto for a long moment while he rummaged through the fridge, crossing her arms. "I think you're overexaggerating, Boruto. Your parents seem like great people, and yet you paint them like they're neglectful. I only see my dad occasionally. If anyone should be compla-"

"Sarada, I'd rather see my dad for a few days every month and have his undivided attention, than to have to be told "Not now, Bolt," almost _every single day,_" Boruto interrupted flatly, closing the fridge after retrieving a canned drink and idly shaking it a few times. "I'm gonna go take this to my mom. It's supposed to be good for stomach and headaches. Come on if you want to say hi."

Sarada watched Boruto leave the room, and the few moments of silence that followed were stifling. She shook her head and stood to follow Boruto's trail up a spiraling flight of steps to the next floor, where a long, straight hallway bloomed outward in all directions to various doors and rooms. Boruto and Sarada kept straight, and he knocked firmly on the farthest door from the stairwell.

"It's me, mom? You alright?"

"Mhm… I'm fine, Boruto, you can come in," replied Hinata's soft voice from inside.

Sarada stepped in behind Boruto, immediately struck by the overpowering scent of lilac in the spacious bedroom. The room itself felt very warm and personal, with a map of the world on one wall of the room, surrounded by pictures of the five Kage and other various faces, some Sakura recognized, some she didn't. The opposite wall had framed sheets of a variety of carefully pressed flowers that looked to have been picked and preserved at the peak of their bloom. The farthest wall had most of its space taken by a large window that looked out over the village behind the bed.

In comparison to the pretty, kempt room around her, Hinata looked noticeably wearier. She sat on the edge of the bed, a compress held to her head just above her right eye, with an idle, slightly uncomfortable expression, and a slight tension in her stance, wearing only a loose nightgown. She didn't look awful, but she certainly looked unwell. Sarada was suddenly struck with embarrassment that she didn't think to bring a little get-well something for Hinata while she was out screwing around town with Hima, or tracking down her father with Boruto.

When Hinata looked up and saw Sarada, she blinked and smiled, offering a small wave. "O-Oh, hello, Sarada… Naruto did tell me you were coming to stay over today, didn't he? I'm sorry I look such a mess right now. It's been a pretty long day today, and last night…"

Boruto handed his mother the can he'd brought, and after holding it for a moment, she furrowed her brows.

"Boruto, did you shake this?"

"What? No."

"Yeah, he did,"

Boruto punched Sarada on the shoulder, and Hinata sighed and set the can on the nightstand to let it settle. "I understand you and Himawari had quite the adventure today, and Boruto had to go and fetch you."

Sarada immediately bowed her head apologetically. "I'm very sorry, Mrs. Uzumaki! I shouldn't have caved so easily and gone along with her. I probably should've tried to stop her. We caused so much trouble and Hanabi-sensei was so upset. I know Himawari took the blame, but I can't deny my responsibility as well!"

Sarada readied herself for Hinata to tell her in a disappointed voice not to let something like that happen again, but was surprised to hear a soft warm laugh from the Hyuga woman instead.

"She really is just like Naruto. And you're just like your mother, as well, Sarada. I can tell you're a very compassionate and responsible person. Never lose that. Maybe you'll rub off on Boruto one day. And don't worry too much about upsetting Hanabi. I'm willing to be you've only seen one side of her. Catch her when she's off-duty, or next to Konohamaru, and you'd think she was a completely different person."

Hinata reached out to gently pat Sarada's shoulder, and she sighed with relief, while Boruto rolled his eyes. "Are you saying I'm not compassionate or responsible? I brought a drink for you!"

"Boruto… You shook it up. If I'd opened it, it would have doused me. How is that compassionate?" Hinata asked, crossing her arms. Boruto did the same.

"Laughter's the best medicine, right? Seeing that would've made me laugh! And then you'd be that much closer to feeling better, right?"

Hinata gave her son a soft look and a gentle chuckle. "Compassionate, not quite… But you're certainly clever, Boruto."

He huffed slightly and began to look away, but suddenly gave his full attention to his mother again as something else came to mind. "Oh! Hey, mom, who do you think would win in a fight? Rock Lee, or Sasuke Uchiha?"

The question surprised Hinata. She was silent for a few moments before both she and Sarada give Boruto odd looks. "That's… a curious question. Where did this come from?"

Boruto smirks innocently and shrugs. "Eh… It's just something me and Sarada ended up discussing on our way back here. No reason! I was just wondering what you might think."

Hinata's brows knit together as she thought for a few long moments. "Well… I know both of them are incredibly powerful. Sasuke is one of the single most powerful individual shinobi in the world today. He's more than competent in all forms of jutsu, he possesses the Sharingan and the Rinnegan and there's almost no one who could stand up to him in one-on-one combat. My sister and I are considered masters of the Gentle Fist art, and insurmountably powerful shinobi in our own right." She shrugs. "It applies more to Hanabi than to me. I certainly wouldn't stand a chance against Sasuke. Hanabi would fare much better than I would, but I doubt she could defeat him, either."

Sarada felt a surge of pride swell in her chest, hearing that her father could easily win this upcoming spar. She never doubted him, and she was happy to hear that Hinata didn't doubt him, either!

"But…" Hinata continued, which made Sarada blink, suddenly a little nervous. "Winning in a battle against Sasuke is less a matter of defeating him, and more a matter of outlasting him."

Sarada tilted her head. "Eh? What do you mean?"

Hinata closed her eyes. "Standing toe-to-toe with Sasuke is suicide, but his strength is also his weakness. The power granted to him by his eyes comes at the cost of a massive amount of chakra. Against someone like Lee, who is more than fast enough to outmaneuver the Sharingan, Sasuke would have to always keep his eyes open and active to keep up, and expend more chakra to properly defend and attack. Lee pushes his body to impossible limits every day. Limits that would easily kill anyone else in less than half the time he spends training. He can take a beating, and dodge a beating, just as well as Sasuke could deliver one. It's a question of who gets tired first. And that's a _really _good question..."

The more Hinata spoke, the wider Boruto's smile grew, and the more Sarada's eyebrows knit together. Hinata finally shrugged after a moment more of thought. "There's only a handful of people who I could say had a fair chance against Sasuke in a fight. Rock Lee is one of them. Not sure how your conversation on the way here came around to that topic, but… I'm glad I could offer my opinion, if it was any help."

"Perfect, thanks mom!" Boruto said as he turned on his heel to leave the room.

Sarada stuck around for a minute, bowing her head. "It's really good to see you, Mrs. Uzumaki. Do you know where the Seventh is?"

"He was just here," Hinata said, looking away for a moment and blushing slightly. "He's been taking care of me all day, but I insisted he take a little break and give himself some air. You might find him on the roof. Just be careful. Don't be like Himawari and tiptoe on the edge…"

Sarada smiled and nodded gratefully. "Thank you very much! I hope you feel better soon."

Hinata laughed lightly as Sarada turned to leave as well, closing the door behind her. "So do I, Sarada."

The nervousness itching in Sarada's brain confused her. It was just a spar; her father wasn't in any real danger. But having her pride inflate and then deflate again at going from thinking it was a sure win to learning that it could _actually _be a good fight left her with an odd feeling. As she stewed on these thoughts and walked back into the main circle of hallways, she was suddenly taken by surprise by a swift force running right into her and nearly tackling her to the floor.

"Sarada! I'd almost forgotten that you were coming over!" Himawari's voice chirped happily to Sarada as she tried to regain her footing.

Seeing Hima's face again as well as her signature sunflower pattern shirt and vivid pumpin-colored pants was more than enough to take Sarada's mind off the imminent spar for the moment, and she smiled as Hima finally pulled away and Boruto emerged again from another hallway.

"Bolt told me about what was going on~ You're going with us, right?!"

She was already reluctantly participating in this outing to go where she probably shouldn't be, and the spar being mentioned again attracted that nervous feeling again… Hima's bright-eyed enthusiasm wasn't helping too much, either. Sarada rolled her eyes and shrugged. "I suppose so. But we've still got some time to kill before we have to go, right? I was going to find your dad and say hi."

"Hi."

The voice behind Sarada startled her, and she gasped and turned quickly to see the Seventh himself leaning casually against the wall behind her. An immediate and blatantly innocent smile plastered itself widely across Sarada's face, and Naruto lifted an amused brow.

"M-Mr. Seventh! I mean, Lord Uzumaki! I-I mean, uh… Where did you come from?"

"Just Naruto is fine, Sarada. We're friends!" he chuckled, and to answer her second question, he gestured toward a subtle marking on the wall above one of the hallways. "It's convenient for me to keep a few of them around the house. Easy to get to and from places. So, what's going on, and where are you kids going?"

"We're gonna watch-"

"-the new Princess Gale movie at the cinema,"

Himawari started, and Boruto finished. Both Hima and Sarada glanced at Boruto's straight face before looking back at Naruto. Slowly, the Hokage's eyes scanned over each one of their expressions. Sarada maintained her _completely_ innocent smile, and Himawari suddenly looked slightly lost and confused, her expression blanking. Boruto kept his face straight and serious, crossing his arms as he met his father's eyes.

The longer the silence wore on, the more nervous Sarada became. Just as the first drop of sweat beaded on her brow, Naruto smirked.

"That's awesome. I should come see it with you guys."

"Only got three tickets."

"I'll just buy one at the booth."

"We were lucky to get these. I'm certain they're sold out by now."

"Aw, come on, I'm sure they could just let me in."

"Well, sure, I guess. If you wanna flaunt your power around."

"This is odd. I really figured _you'd_ want me to tag along, Boruto."

"We can go see another showing. You told me Princess Gale movies are better the second time anyway. Now when I get the chance to see it again with you, it'll be a better overall experience. I'm thinking about you, too, Dad."

There was another extended pause before Naruto closed his eyes and sighed out through his nose. "Point taken." He smiled at them, but kept his brow raised. "You three have fun. Don't spoil anything for me when you get back, Hima."

"Uh, I won't, Daddy!"

Naruto nodded and gave Sarada a warm parting smile before turning away and strolling down the hall that she had just come from, toward the master bedroom and his wife.

"Why'd you fib, Bolt? We're not going to the cinema," Himawari muttered, furrowing her brows.

Boruto kept his arms crossed as he glanced at his sister. "Please. You really think Dad would approve if he knew where we were _really_ going? What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

"It may hurt us…" Sarada murmured as well, relaxing her smile and furrowing her brows.

Bolt shook his head and headed toward the stairs. "Not if we're far enough away. Don't worry about it. Just be ready to head out in about an hour so we can go and find a good spot early to watch."

Himawari and Sarada watched Bolt head back down the stairs, before looking at each other. The younger girl shrugged, then smiled again and took Sarada's hand. "Did you go home before coming here?" she asked as she tugged Sarada along down to another door.

"Uh, no. Boruto and I had kind of a detour, but I didn't go home," Sarada responded.

"Bleh, you must still be sweaty and stale, then," Himawari snickered, opening the door and guiding Sarada inside. Himawari's room was exactly what Sarada expected it to be: bright yellow wallpaper, a large bed, and framed sheets of pressed flowers just like in the master bedroom, except _all_ of them were sunflowers. Her floor was a mess and nothing seemed very organized in the room. Sarada was helplessly confused as to how Himawari could find anything in the mess her room was, and she shuddered to think of how her closet might have looked…

Still, there was something pleasing about seeing her friend's room for the first time, and while seeing how much of a mess it was gave Sarada some distress, it couldn't keep the smile from her face.

"My bathroom's over there," Himawari said with a gesture to the half-opened door on the other side of the room. "Everything's in there for you to shower and feel refreshed, and Daddy left your sleepover bag beside my bed. I'm gonna go fetch some snacks! Seeya in a minute!"

Sarada watched Himawari quickly leave the room again, and stood for a long quiet moment, breathing in the fresh scent and the subtle hints of lilac likely drifting in from the nearby master bedroom. After taking in the moment, she turned to step toward the bathroom. It wasn't her room or her home, not by a long shot, but she could certainly get used to being here.

* * *

**And that's everything! Thanks for reading, guys, and I hope these reposts weren't annoying or anything. I know you all were waiting for the start of Sasuke v. Kiba, but I think this is going to be much better for me to write and much better for me to read. Leave your thoughts with a review!**

**College starts up again in less than two weeks for me. I don't exactly have a very busy schedule, but I'm not going to have as much time to write as I did before. Not that you guys would notice anything, since I take forever to put out chapters anyway. :P I will definitely try to get out the start of the Sasuke v. Lee fight before I have to head back to campus in twelve days, so keep an eye out for that.**

**My next short little project that I'm going to be doing alongside Eleven Fifty-Four in the near future is going to be a NejiTen fic under the working title of 'Pictures'. No spoiling details from me. :3 Put me on Author Alert, if you haven't already, and you'll be able to keep track of whenever I start that story up!**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your~**

**Hearts beat with~**

**Calamity~!**

**Till next time!**


	15. Give Me A Challenge!

**Finally back to business! Sorry for the wait, guys. :P **

**Also, I don't know if I mentioned this in one of the rewrite chapters, or if I forgot to, but I didn't know Sasuke still didn't have half a left arm. That's an error on my part, but I'm not going to go through the whole story to change every little detail involving that, so I'm just going to roll with him having both hands.**

* * *

While the Hidden Leaf Village was a booming, bustling bastion of societal and technological advancement, the pinnacle of the modern age, nature still dominated the surrounding land. Dense trees and tall grass formed a sea of green from one horizon to the other, and natural wonders abounded, like the shimmering water of the quick-flowing river and the curved shelf of the cliff alongside it, where Sasuke sat alone at the bank of the river, with his eyes closed, his cloak draped over his shoulders, and his sheathed sword settled in his lap.

Sasuke had been all over the world. He had seen the indomitable mountains of the Land of Earth and the soothing mists and springs and vast stretches of sea in the Land of Water. He had crossed the harsh whispering dunes of the Land of Wind and challenged the rumbling storms that filled the sky in the Land of Lightning.

But nothing compared to the lush forests of home. By far, Sasuke spent more of his days traveling the Land of Fire than anywhere else. The way the branches above him swayed compliantly to the restless whistling winds never failed to calm and center him, no matter what shades plagued his mind.

However, as calm and collected as Sasuke appeared, there was a thorn of annoyance pricking at him, and he could see it when he turned his head: his wife and daughter, as well as both of Naruto's children sitting in the shade of a tree near the edge of that cliff. They waved when he looked over, and he offered a reluctant wave in return before his attention shifted again at the sound of nearby footfalls.

"You are early, Sasuke, I like that! Admittedly, I half-expected you to adopt Kakashi-sensei's fashionable lateness," Lee bellowed, appearing as if from nowhere.

With a sharp exhale through his nose, Sasuke shook his head and closed his eyes. "Let's just get this over with so I can kiss my wife and go home," he sighed, gesturing for Sakura to come officiate and call for the spar to start.

Every word seemed to multiply the fire and vigor in Lee's eyes, and he gave Sasuke a wide, gleaming grin. "Such chilly confidence! S-Such cool arrogance! I like it even more! I will enjoy melting you under the hot-blooded power of youth!"

Sasuke gave Sakura a weary look as she briefly jumped down from her perch with the other spectators to stand on the other side of the river from them, but Sakura returned a coy, innocent expression back to him before glancing between both participants. "Are the both of you ready?"

"Absolutely!"

"As I'll ever be."

Sakura nodded her head and raised her hands. "Alright, then! This spar between Sasuke Uchiha and Rock Lee begins…"

Lee took a stance and raised his fists, giving Sasuke another wide, gleaming grin. Sasuke simply shook his head and closed his eyes…

"…Now!"

…and opened them again, revealing the Sharingan and Rinnegan taking over his dark eyes. His enhanced sight was immediately put to the test, as from the moment he opened them, he read an oncoming series of strikes and quickly raised his guard to dodge and deflect away Lee's powerful jabs as his passionate opponent immediately worked to gain ground.

Sakura lingered on the ground to watch for a moment before she turned to leap back up the cliff to join the kids.

"They're so fast!" Sarada gasped, all three of the children watching excitedly and perilously from the edge of the cliff. "And Papa is dodging everything!"

"Does that Lee guy even stand a chance if he can't land a blow?" Boruto asked.

Sakura calmly and gently dragged the children back a safe few feet from the edge of the cliff, watching intently as well.

"I don't know, but don't count anyone out based on what you're seeing right now. They've barely started, trust me."

On the ground, Lee kept up a consistent assault, losing none of his vigor even though all of his strikes were being easily deflected by Sasuke, who wasted as little energy as possible by moving just enough to dodge by a hair and parrying his punches instead of blocking directly. Sasuke took a quick note of Lee interrupting his combo of jabs to swing a slow, high roundhouse kick.

_Weighted…_ he thought as he began to leap backwards to evade the kick. "Lose the weights, Lee. You d-"

Sasuke's words were cut short as Lee sprung off his other foot to chase Sasuke through the air as he leapt, whirling into a spinning back kick too fast for him to react to, and much faster than the first kick. It struck Sasuke's arm and he whirled around once in midair, his guard totally shattered and his bearings lost for a brief instant.

"Severe Leaf Hurricane!" Lee roared as he continued his spin, attempting a third and final lightning-fast kick to Sasuke's abdomen.

'_Push!' _Sasuke thought quickly. Lee's kick landed, but most of its force was dampened by a last-moment pulse of a Shinra Tensei from Sasuke's closest hand. Sasuke flew backwards and slid his heels into the dirt before coming to a stop, gazing briefly at the small bruise blooming on the heel of his palm before looking up at Lee as he landed as well.

"I'm not wearing weights. Your eyes see much, but they do not see all of my strength; only that which I choose to show you at any moment. Don't get cocky too quickly, Sasuke, or this will be just like our first fight all those years ago!" Lee shouted proudly.

Sasuke smiled. "I'll let you have that, Lee. But it won't work twice. Now it's my turn."

With a hand sign, Sasuke summoned two clones on either side of him. The clones charged forward while Sasuke lingered behind them, forming another hand sign and firing a wild barrage of small flames through the air, past the clones and flying straight toward Lee.

"Hah! Gate of Rest, _open!_" Lee roared, and as the first two gates opened, the grass around him flattened against the ground from the sudden release of energy. He charged forward as well, and with a single leap and a powerful spinning kick through the air, Lee kicks up a harsh and sudden gale of wind, strong enough to extinguish most of the oncoming flames and forcing the others to whiz harmlessly past Lee before Sasuke could accurately redirect them, showing that Lee's strength had already magnified gradually just from opening the first two gates.

With the harassing jutsu deflected, Lee turned his attention to the clones as they met him in the air, locked in a brief tangle of pummels before Lee sent one clone flying with a solid kick, and let the other land a hit that sent him down to the ground. The hard strike and the harder landing didn't even phase Lee, and he readied himself for the oncoming barrage as Sasuke and both of his clones closed in.

The spectators were helplessly engrossed in the blurring greys and blacks and greens of the rapid close-quarter combat, but Himawari with her Byakugan was the only one able to keep up with the action. Her powerful eyes trembled in their sockets as they followed every lightning-fast motion.

"Whoooooa. It's like three against one, and the Lee guy is actually keeping up with Uncle Sasuke! How do they even move this fast? It's unreal! Is this how strong they really are, Aunt Sakura?"

Even though Sakura was already having a difficult time keeping up with everything going on, she smirked and shook her head. "Just keep watching."

The assault dragged on, with Lee keeping up with Sasuke's brutal pressure until he timed a simultaneous attack with his two clones on either side, pushing Lee's guard to its limit and effectively binding his arms. Sasuke himself took advantage of the bind and with the insight of his Sharingan, copied Lee's Dynamic Entry and threw a hard jump kick right into Lee's chest.

The shattering blow staggered Lee, and the force threw him backwards into a quick roll across the ground before he returned to his feet. In that moment, one of Sasuke's clones leapt and took position above him, while another charged forward.

'_Push!'_ Sasuke commanded mentally, and the clone above Lee aimed his hand down and cast another Shinra Tensei right on top of Lee's head, so vicious and powerful that it formed a small crater underneath Lee's feet. But in spite of all that force bearing down on Lee at once and making him hunch and seize in pain, he remained standing.

The forward-charging clone, however, was completely open to channel the Asura Path and swing a mechanized right fist straight into Lee's gut. The punch itself carried Lee right off his feet, but the attack went further, and the clone's fist detached at the wrist, propelling itself like a rocket and shooting Lee up into the air before arcing downwards and smashing him down into the river with astounding force.

Up above, Sakura raised her brows at the devastating combo, and the children's jaws dropped.

"W-Wow, that was brutal… And _awesome!_" Boruto cheered. "I knew Uncle Sasuke would win!"

"Papa's no joke… Is Lee alright?" Sarada asked, looking at Himawari. "Can you see him under the water, Hima?"

Himawari squinted silently at where Lee was thrown into the river, mirroring Sasuke who stood with his clones beside him, his eyes also gazing hard into the flowing channel.

"That can't be all you've got, Lee! Get up here and give me a challenge!" Sasuke called.

On cue, the river water near where Lee fell began to bubble with slowly-increasing intensity. Himawari continued to watch carefully, but she did glance at Sarada long enough to speak.

"The green guy's not done yet. Keep watching!"

Sasuke continued to observe as the water began to seethe and boil and steam in a wide circle around where Lee landed. Several moments later, the water itself began to cave and collapse into a whirlpool around the intense source of energy under the surface.

Sasuke kept his eyes locked onto Lee's location for some time without anything changing, before he blinked once. In the millisecond of time that his eyes were closed, Sasuke sensed Lee's sudden motion, and when his eyes were open again the next millisecond, Lee was in midair in front of him, his skin bright red, his eyes blank white, and his left leg ready to unload a spinning roundhouse kick.

Sasuke had almost no time to react as the world slowed to a crawl around him. His first instinct was to start to dodge left, and at the same moment, he sent the clone on his right side into the air with an arm outstretched to use another Shinra Tensei on his kicking leg to counteract or dampen the force of the blow.

'_Push!'_

The most forceful Shinra Tensei so far began to leave the clone's palm, but Lee's kick was fast enough and strong enough to not only interrupt the full move, but barrel effortlessly through the strong force the clone had already produced, smashing it in the face and sending it sliding through the dirt for a moment before it dissipated from the damage.

The sound of the impact was booming, and just the sheer force of the kick, along with the clone flying past him whipped up powerful winds that forced Sasuke to squint, and even rustled the trees high on the cliff where Sakura and the children were observing.

"Papa?!"

"What the hell just happened?!"

"I can't see! What's going on?!"

All the children spoke at once in shocked yelps, while Sakura held onto them to keep them secure.

"You're starting to see their truer power!" she yelled over the gale.

Down below, Lee's empowered attack pressed on, and he closed the distance between himself and Sasuke other clone instantaneously, sweeping its feet from under it with a swift low kick, followed immediately by a high kick to launch it further into the air.

"Whirlwind! Rising Wind!" roared Lee's voice with each move, and Sasuke found that the mechanical nature of the Asura Path made his clone uncontrollable after attaining sufficient damage, and Lee's Leaf Rising Wind was more than enough to cripple his one remaining clone and cause it to seize with sparks racing across its body.

Sasuke used Lee's distraction with his clone to try to put more space between them, but Lee had not forgotten about Sasuke. His next move was to unravel his bandages enough to bind the disabled clone before spinning wildly through to air as they dove straight toward Sasuke.

"_Primary Lotus!"_ Lee yelled moments before impact.

It looked to be a direct hit, and the forceful explosion of earth and dust sent another harsh gale of wind howling through the trees and across the cliff. Sarada couldn't believe her eyes… Just moments ago, it looked as if her father had sealed an early, easy victory against Lee, but now, in just seconds, it now looked like that victory might have been stolen back by Lee.

Long moments passed with nothing but the distant growls of wind reaching farther into the forest around them, and the peals of earthy dust rising into the air from the impact crater. Finally, Lee leaped backwards from the dust, his stance and appearance still intense.

"I have opened the fifth gate for you, Sasuke! Now it is _your_ turn to give me a challenge!"

Once again, Sarada and Boruto looked to Himawari, who was simply staring into the dust cloud. "What do you see, Hima? Is Papa alright?" Sarada asked.

Whatever Himawari saw in the dust, it entranced her enough that she didn't even seem to hear Sarada beside her. The dust settled eventually, though, and when they all finally managed to get a good look at what the cloud was concealing, they were just as speechless as Himawari.

Standing right where he was at the moment of impact, Sasuke stood, his cloak discarded and his eyes closed, surrounded by a deep purple shroud of chakra that took the shape of a cloaked human figure from the waist up, with a plated bow gloved to its left hand.

Sasuke opened his eyes, revealing that his Sharingan had evolved into its Eternal Mangekyo form, and his Rinnegan had developed Sharingan tomoe around it.

"Five gates won't be enough to win you that kiss," Sasuke chuckled, pointing at Lee. Moving in time with Sasuke, his Susanoo lifted its arm to aim its bow at Lee. "But at least things are getting interesting now."

Despite the ferocity of his appearance, Lee was still able to offer Sasuke a charming, gleaming grin. "Heh! Take your best shot!"

Watching up above, Sakura grins at the frozen expressions of awe on the younger spectators' faces. "Now the _real_ fighting begins," she says.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, guys! You wouldn't believe how hard it was for me to get through this. :P I'm awful at writing fight scenes, but I think the start of this one turned out okay. As of now, I have no idea how this fight is actually going to end, but I've got ideas swimming around that I'd really like to do for this fight, and I hope everything I want to do makes it in the end.**

**Tell me what you think so far! Before I upload the second part of the fight, I'm going to be working on the first chapter for my NejiTen story, as well as a short little oneshot about a pairing I haven't decided on yet. Keep me on author alert if that at all interests you. I'm sorry if it's annoying that I'm slowing the pace of Eleven Fifty-Four to do other stuff, but there's so many good ideas in my head that I want to share, and if I don't get them down, they're gonna annoy me and kill my buzz for Eleven Fifty-Four, and I don't want that!**

**So keep an eye out for more Naruto stuff from me!**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your~**

**Hearts beat with~**

**Calamity~!**

**Till next time!**


	16. Not Over Yet

**Hey, guys! Really really sorry this took so long to get out. :( Enjoy, though! Part 2 of 3 of the epic Sasuke v. Lee spar!**

* * *

It was like she was truly seeing her father for the first time. Sarada couldn't take her eyes off of Sasuke and the sheer power he was putting on display, and neither could her friends. Sakura's eyes drifted between Sasuke and Lee, watching to see who would make the first move in this renewed battle.

Lee and Sasuke stared each other down, bathed in their own intense energies. Lee was poised to move at any moment, just as Sasuke was poised to fire, and the tension rose with each slowly passing moment.

Sasuke's left eye twitched. In a fraction of an instant, his Susanoo avatar raised its other arm to form, draw back, and quickly fire an arrow from its gauntlet bow. Just as quickly, Lee vanished from sight and the arrow exploded loudly and harmlessly.

Nothing was hidden from Sasuke's sight, and despite Lee's impossible speeds, he could see him clearly as he approached. Reacting accordingly was the challenge. Time slowed as Sasuke bore all his concentration onto following Lee's movements through the air and swinging Susanoo's shielded arm to catch Lee's first brutal kick, before he vanished again to reappear just as quickly on his unshielded side. A quick spin allowed Sasuke to meet the second kick with the shield as well, and the pattern continued.

Even though to Sasuke it seemed as if time was moving in short bursts, to the onlookers above, it was a mindless flurry of motions and impacts, similar to what the fight had been just moments ago, but on a much more intense scale.

"Are you gonna be that strong one day, Sarada?" Himawari asked, unable to take her Byakugan off of the fight for even a moment.

Before now, Sarada could never have imagine that such power existed, let alone that her own father possessed it. She could only stare, starstruck. "I dunno… I sure hope so."

Down below, Sasuke was doing a good job at keeping Lee at bay. Not a strike had landed anywhere other than solid shield so far, and Sasuke eventually picked up patterns in Lee's movements, making it even easier to predict where he'd be.

Sasuke was a motion away from reading and deflecting an attack to follow up with another quick arrow, but his eye throbbed briefly in pain for a brief moment, and this instant's fraction of hesitation gives Lee an opening. A powerful kick caught the Susanoo shell in the chest, dispersing some of its armor and revealing cracked ribcage underneath. Before Lee could follow up with a second kick, Sasuke directed one of Susanoo's arrows straight down to the ground, firing and sending up a large explosion which forced both of them away from the area.

Lee leapt backwards, stunned for a slight moment at the shock of the blast. When Sasuke leapt backwards, his Susanoo had advanced somewhat, growing legs and becoming a mobile golem several times larger than Lee, within which Sasuke was suspended. Upon landing, the armor sunk into the ground again, setting Sasuke back on his feet. He quickly gathered his bearings and drew further on his eye powers, replacing the purple arrow notched in Susanoo's bow with a rod of pure black fire.

"Inferno Style: Black Volley!" he called out. As the black arrow fired, it exploded into a swirling cloud of smaller black arrows which forced Lee to leap swiftly past the tree line for cover once he'd gathered himself again.

The black flames set the trees ablaze as they stalked Lee, and Sasuke's control over them forced them to spread quickly and wildly. From up above, it looked as if there was a snaking trail of black flames rampaging through the forest and collapsing the trees they passed over into ash. Sasuke relentlessly pursued Lee with his flame control, even though his eye was throbbing from the effort, eventually resulting in a single bloody tear leaving his duct. He manipulated the path of his flames in such a way that eventually, Lee would have to return to the riverside clearing.

The moment he did, Sasuke's eyes widened and he conjured more black flames in a stunning burst of power than produced a small tear of blood from his left eye. The flames formed a swirling cylinder surrounding Lee from all sides except directly in front of and directly behind him, leaving him nowhere to run.

"Heavy Shot," Sasuke grunted, conjuring a thick round-headed arrow to notch in Susanoo's bow before quickly firing it and nailing Lee right in the gut. The force carried Lee through the cylinder and far away in the blink of an eye, and he flew out of sight before finally sending up a cloud of dust and earth upon impact with the ground several hundred meters further.

The onlookers above gawked in amazement before Himawari was the first to stand and cheer, with Boruto and Sarada soon following. Sakura walked to the edge of the cliff and called down.

"Good job, Sasuke! Do you need any healing? I'll be over there once I find and check on-"

"Don't," Sasuke called back with a sigh. "Stay up there. It's not over yet."

Sakura tilted her head in confusion, but before she could say anything else, a powerful force billowed forcefully past them, whipping up the wind for a brief moment and causing the children to yelp in surprise and the river to churn in violent waves. Just as quickly as the powerful wave blew past, everything was calm again. Sasuke, safely suspended in his golem of chakra armor, did not stir.

"What's going on?!" Sarada asked, fixing her glasses while Himawari peered hard into the distance with her Byakugan at where Lee was.

"He's opened the sixth gate," Sasuke said, closing his eyes. The energy around him began to rise in intensity as well, and as the form of his Susanoo shivered, he glanced over at the onlookers. "Brace yourselves."

And in a pillar of swirling purple energy, Sasuke's Susanoo changed. It encased itself in a thicker layer of armor, its face disappearing in the shadow of the new armor's frightening tengu-faced cowl, with only Susanoo's bright eyes visible. Its right arm split into two, with one holding an arrow ready to notch, and the other clutching a swirling orb of pitch black Amaterasu flames.

"He's coming back! _Really_ fast!" Himawari gasped, and even from their distance, Sarada, Boruto, and Sakura could see the trail of dust being kicked up by how quickly Lee was approaching again.

Sasuke waited only a second longer before his Susanoo raised the lower of its two right arms, crushing the black orb in its grip and rapidly causing it to expand and swirl and mold itself into the shape of a large tower shield held out and wedged into the ground in front of it. A small hole opened up in the face of the shield and allowed the Susanoo to raise its two other arms, the higher right arm notching another round-headed arrow, and the bow-mounted left arm aiming through the hole in the shield.

"Rapid Fire!" Sasuke yelled. The notched arrow began to glow brightly before multiple copies of the arrow began launching in rapid succession toward Lee. Despite the flurry of projectiles, Lee did not seem to slow down at all.

"Hima, what's going on? He's not stopping," Sarada asked, concerned.

"That Lee guy is surrounded by a shell of air and super chakra! The arrows are blowing right past him!"

Sasuke seemed to realize the same thing, and with a squint and another outburst of chakra that caused a couple more tears of blood to trickle from his eyes, the shield in front of him began to tremble and change, growing larger and taking a more fierce shape.

"Inferno Style… Black Rashomon!"

The large gate-like shield took form not a second too soon. Lee closed in at blinding speed and delivered a devastating punch to the surface of the thick gate, swinging so quickly and brutally that for a brief instant, it seemed as if his fist itself had burst into flames. At first, it appeared to stop Lee dead in his tracks, but with an air-splitting boom, his punch shattered through the blistering hot flames of the Amaterasu gate, forming a massive hole and leaving Lee's fist smoldering and steaming as he flew through it, the bandages along his right arm burned to ash. Harsh-looking burns lined Lee's reddened arm as well, but he looked undeterred. His intense eyes showed no pain nor fear as he locked onto Sasuke.

"You just don't know when to stay down, do you?" Sasuke chuckled.

Lee gave a gleaming grin as he responded. "Of course not! And why would I? This is the most fun I've had in years! I feel like a kid again, Sasuke! Overflowing with burning, passionate-"

Sasuke quickly notched and fired another arrow as Lee spoke, but he dodged with lightning-fast reaction time and reflexes, startled into pausing before grinning at Sasuke again. The arrow exploded harmlessly some meters behind him.

"Point taken. The battle continues!"

Sasuke raised a brow, impressed that Lee was now fast enough to dodge a Susanoo arrow from near point-blank range, even when seemingly distracted.

"Mom wasn't kidding when he said this guy could take a beating…" Boruto murmured above.

"You can still win, Papa!" Sarada yelled down loudly and proudly. "Show him what you're made of!"

Sasuke wasn't about to take his eyes off of Lee for even an instant. But hearing his daughter's words brought a small smirk to his lips. He took a short breath, and Susanoo's arsenal began to change. The bow receded, and the shield plating it expanded slightly and began to glow. The gate of solid black flames dematerialized and flowed back into the lower of Susanoo's right hands, forming a thin black hanbo staff held at the center. In its higher right hand was an unnotched arrow, but with a simple squeeze, it extended as well into a shorter tambo, held at one end.

Lee took a stance, and with a burst of violent energy that shook the trees above, and a fierce yell, he leaped straight forward. Sasuke brought Susanoo's shield in front of him in an instant, just in time to catch Lee's kick, the force of which sent Sasuke and his construct skidding backwards slightly. Sasuke was ready for his next approach, brandishing his staffs in Susanoo's two right hands before swinging and jabbing with them to keep Lee at bay.

Having to dodge the intensely focused flames on both sides of one staff and deflect the harder, faster strikes from the other staff was proving effective at keeping Lee at bay at first glance. Sasuke's skill with his weapons, against Lee's raw speed and power with his sixth gate open sparked another clash of blurred motion and powerful impacts.

It took much longer for it to become apparent who was gaining the upper hand. When Lee found an opening to free himself from being boxed in on all sides by the relentless onslaught, he began moving much faster, moving from one side of Susanoo to the other in no time at all, forcing Sasuke once again to divert his reflexes toward blocking and defending at the same time as putting up an offense.

What made the situation more harrowing was the power in Lee's strikes. Susanoo's armor was nearly invincible against regular taijutsu, but Lee was moving so fast and with such power that his punches and kicks met Susanoo's armor with almost literal explosive force. Flames and embers roared from his attacks, blackening his pants and one remaining sleeve of bandages, which were still intact. He did not attack with his right arm, however, which had been burned by attacking the Black Rashomon.

'_Fireproofed…'_ Sasuke quickly deduced. _'But it can't fully withstand Amaterasu.'_

With renewed efforts, Sasuke pressed his assault against Lee relentlessly, sacrificing his defensive stance. Lee was able to get one clean hit on Susanoo's head, hard enough to shatter and disperse part of the armored cowl to reveal half of the constructs underlying face within the shadows. Cracks and withering embers of chakra spread and fell along other parts of Susanoo's armor, and Sasuke winced, but remained unconcerned, and used Lee's one good blow to gain himself a clean opening to strike Lee along the chest and left arm with his black hanbo.

Lee flew across the ground and eventually rolled to a stop on his back, his entire top scorched away and both of his arms now reddened and burned and disabled. He grit his teeth as he tried and failed to sit himself up on his agonized arms, the pain sapping his strength.

"Two limbs down," Sasuke grunted, rushing forward with the shorter staff poised for a downward swing. "Lights out!"

Lee exhaled sharply and lifted one leg, catching the tambo with the flat of one sandaled foot. The impact still sent Lee further into the ground, but he wasn't out yet. "You're aiming to finish this quickly now, aren't you? There's no way I'm letting this battle end without showing you all the fruits of my training!"

Lee twisted his body and swung his other leg to batter away the staff, using that momentum to successfully whirl to his feet again and clench his fists to his sides in spite of the pain.

"Hraah! Gate of Shock, _open!_"

Up above, Sakura quickly throws her arms around the three kids in front of her, pulling them quickly away from the edge of the cliff and behind the tree they sat under.

"Mama? What's going-" Sarada started, but her voice was quickly lost against the roar of wind and energy as it burst around them and shook the earth.

Sakura held onto the children tightly until the eruptions of energy settled, and they peeked back out to find that the force had sent Sasuke backwards some meters, and Lee was standing, seething with energy. A mist of what appeared to be power-laden chakra and steam surrounded him, and the air around him radiated with all of the heat his body was giving off.

"I was told by Gai-sensei himself that the strength of my seventh gate has far surpassed his," Lee said, slowly folding his burned, weakened arms behind his back. "I don't need arms at this point. Just one leg is all I need to bring this battle to a fiery conclusion. Get ready, Sasuke!"

* * *

**As much as I adore and enjoy writing out this fight scene (which I know exactly how it's going to end now), I'll be glad when I'm able to move on to more SasuSaku goodness in the next few chapters. I don't know exactly when I'm going to finish up Eleven Fifty-Four, but I've already got my next long Naruto project lined up and in its planning stages.**

**I've put aside my NejiTen fic idea for a little while, and I'm going to start working on a Naruto 'gamefic', featuring Boruto as the main character in a video game world he finds himself stuck in! The title right now is Boruto: Online. Alongside the gamefic, I'm going to be doing a slightly-more interactive Naruto project on the site, which is tentatively being called 'Naruto: Ninja Champions'.**

**This idea is meant for me to practice and shape up my skills in writing fight scenes. Basically, I'm going to try to write a series of fights and tournaments featuring different Naruto characters, where readers will offer their input into matchups and will be able to vote on my profile page (per chapter) who they think will win. The final decision in how I write the chapter and who the victor of battles will be may depend on reader input :P**

**I'm going to start on either one or the other once Eleven Fifty-Four winds down, and there's a poll up on my profile right now where you, readers, can vote and tell me which you would rather see me start on first! The poll will be up until the last chapter of Eleven Fifty-Four, whenever that is. At the end of this story, I'll announce which one I'm going to be starting on. Stay tuned and like I always say, keep me on Author Alert.**

**Also, read Blue Raspberry. It's the oneshot I mentioned I was doing last chapter, and it's a Sarada/Himawari lemon! Check it out and leave a review if you wanna.**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your~**

**Hearts beat with~**

**Calamity~!**

**Till next time!**


	17. Get Up And Fight!

**It's done! :D I powered through this chapter like a bullet train! I did not expect to be done with this so quickly, but I just had the inspiration, rolled with it, and in two days, I was done! How about that?! Enjoy the epic conclusion to this really fun fight to write, guys!**

* * *

It was with a curious eye and an odd pit of concern in his stomach that Naruto approached his bedroom window at the peak of noon and spied the swirling head of a mushroom cloud of smoke peeking up somewhere south outside the village, large enough to be seen even behind the height of the wall.

The small rumbling quake that soon followed did not stir Naruto, but it did cause Hinata to sit up with surprise in bed, looking around before glancing at her husband.

Naruto spoke before she had a chance to open her mouth. "I see it. Sorry, Hinata, I'll be back."

As he threw on a shirt and left the bedroom, he sighed as every single phone in his house was ringing like crazy with emergency tones. He picked one phone up as he passed.

"I see it. Don't worry." he groaned simply before hanging up again.

He was stopped at his front door by his assistants, Moegi and Udon, who looked out of breath from running.

"Seventh! There's-" Moegi started, but paused as Naruto walked right past them.

"I see it. I'm on it," he interrupted her before leaping up to the rooftops.

Naruto stopped for a moment as he saw that the streets below him were in a little bit of a confused panic, murmuring loudly in the streets and pointing up at the rising mushroom cloud beyond the wall.

"I see it!" Naruto yelled out loudly to get everyone's attention. "Calm down!"

The same simple speech was repeated at least three times over as Naruto made his way to the southwestern wall. He noticed while he approached that there was a squadron gathered, and heard Shikamaru up above giving orders to the regular forces as he quickly scaled the wall.

He interrupted Shikamaru's strategic discussion as he leapt to the top of the wall and clapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"I see it. I got this," he told him and the gathered jonin squadron simply, before he leapt past the wall and into the forest, below, following the dark cloud.

_~ Six minutes earlier ~_

Sasuke stood ready, his powerful eyes gazing searchingly at Lee for a long moment. Sasuke was frustrated with how correct Lee was at the very beginning of his match. It was clear that Lee had grown much more powerful. His heart was beating at inhuman speeds, his muscles were literally bursting with energy, and his body temperature had soared to heights that were dangerous to _be around_, let alone experience for one's self. And yet, Sasuke could not immediately gauge just _how_ powerful Lee was yet. His eyes saw chakra, not raw strength, and not having the advantage of being able to judge and respond to Lee's abilities with perfect precision was getting into his head.

He squinted as Lee took a stance, expecting the most brutal and fast-paced assault yet. But Sasuke froze, blinking and frowning as Lee began running at Sasuke at a brisk, human running speed. The onlookers above had no trouble at all keeping up with Lee's pace, and looked just as confused as Sasuke. Lee, however, maintained a serious, intense expression as he ran with his arms behind his back.

"You think you can toy with me, Lee?" Sasuke asked, shaking his head before surging forward quickly on the offensive himself, taking the opportunity to try to box Lee in with his staffs and burn his legs to quickly end the match.

Lee quickly stopped and began to retreat a few steps backwards, dodging and sidestepping each of Susanoo's quick, rapid swings for a few moments, without even trying to get any shots of his own in. All the while, Lee looked as serious as could be, and the farce began to drive Sasuke up the wall.

Lee jumped suddenly up into the air toward Sasuke, leaving himself wide open for a finishing swing from Sasuke's Amaterasu staff. Just a moment before impact, though, Lee moved. He moved so fast that to Sasuke, it looked as if Lee had simply flickered in and out of existence between the time the staff would've struck him, and the time the staff had passed safely by. But he moved, and immediately returned to the same position in the air that he had been before.

To the more untrained eyes above, it looked as if Lee had become intangible, and that the staff passed right through him.

"Whaaaat just happened?" Sarada gasped dumbfoundedly.

Sakura and Sasuke were equally stunned. With his swing defied, Sasuke could not keep Lee out of range, and he continued to fall briskly through the air with his right leg outstretched. He was too close to batter away, so Sasuke quickly brought his shield arm across his chest, allowing Lee's foot to land very softly against the solid, if slightly cracked, surface of the glowing shield.

Sasuke was getting a bit flustered now. "Stop playing around, L-"

And all of a sudden, a vicious, screeching explosion of force obliterated the shield and sent Sasuke and his Susanoo armor recoiling backwards. And for Sasuke, the entire world began to move in slow motion again. Except for Lee. As everything else slowed down around him, Lee's movements were nearly instantaneous. In a blink, he went from the air to the ground. In another blink, he'd moved from the ground to directly in front of Susanoo with his left foot against the chakra armor's chest, but aimed at Sasuke within.

Sasuke was still trapped in the recoil of Lee's first strike. He was unready for the second. Another screeching explosion of brutal force smashed through Susanoo's armor, hit Sasuke right in the gut like a cannonball, and sent him flying out of Susanoo's back, causing the chakra armor to dissipate and Sasuke to fly across the ground in a harsh, splaying tumble.

From above, the onlookers had no idea what just happened, and only yelled out in shock as Susanoo was destroyed in a pair of explosions and Sasuke was sent flying backwards.

"PAPA!" Sarada called out, frightened at seeing her father overpowered, and even more frightened to see him lying face-down in the dust.

Sasuke could barely breathe. He could barely think. He wheezed quietly as he gathered himself up, conscious that if this was a serious fight and not a spar, Lee would be totally free to finish him off then and there. But he knew Lee would give him time to get back on his feet, so he took a moment to catch his breath and try to settle the roaring agony settling right in the pit of his stomach.

Sasuke managed to pull himself to one knee first, coughing into his hand. He pulled it away, and was surprised to find that there was no blood. He eventually stood, panting as he looked at Lee. Momentarily weak in the tongue, he could only ask, "How..?"

Lee smirked slightly at Sasuke while still retaining his intense expression. "A single kick," he said. "Fast enough to be invisible to any eye. And strong enough, as you can see, to shatter even Susanoo's defenses. It requires my foot to already be touching my target. It might look like a sudden invisible force, but I simply pull my leg back and kick again, as fast as I can. Once I am able to touch you, the kick is impossible to dodge. This is the Ultimate Offense, and the third-strongest technique of my seventh gate. I named the technique for the sound it makes, but also in honor of you, Sasuke: _Akitaka. _The Autumn Hawk."

Sasuke closed his eyes and smiled, and Lee took another stance. "I can use it safely twice per leg! Most opponents would be crippled at the very least from just one alone, but you are special, Sasuke. I know your staggering defenses could handle my second-strongest, and even my _absolute_ strongest technique, so I will not hold back!"

Sasuke exhaled sharply and summoned two clones beside him once again. With a couple of hand signs, Sasuke and his clones erupted with power once again and surrounded themselves with Susanoo's form. Sasuke pushed his own Susanoo to its shrouded, armored level at once, but his two clones manifest theirs on one step lower, the humanoid, unarmored form.

Sasuke had put all his available energy into calling up the strongest version of Susanoo he could muster with his available energy and through the pain he was in, half-hoping he could somehow find the strength to call upon the Perfect Susanoo and make Lee's job more difficult. He had no such luck, however, and Sasuke would need to make due with what he had, and figure out how the hell he was going to approach this.

With a fierce yell, he channeled the power of his Six Paths once again through his clones, adding the power to their Susanoo armor. The left clone channeled the Deva Path and caused chunks of earth to rip themselves from the earth and surround and slowly orbit the Susanoo armor like a loose, floating shield of earth, and within this attractive shield and surrounding Susanoo itself was a secondary layer of repulsive force which darkened the air around the armor.

The right clone channeled the Asura Path, and surged briefly with electricity before it began to change. Panels appeared and opened up all along Susanoo's body, extending to reveal various cannons and blades all along the armor's form. Its left forearm retracted into itself and became a large, thick blaster of some sort in place of its bow, and part of Susanoo's head pulled away to extend into a glowing scope that rested over its right eye.

"I underestimated you, Lee. It's unreal just how powerful you are now. This is more fun than almost any challenge I've faced prior," he said. "But I won't lose."

His clones rushed forward, one of them launching sections of its Susanoo's stone barrier directly at Lee, and the other brandishing its many weapons and launching a barrage of glowing missiles into the sky, to rain down on Lee from almost all other directions.

Lee felt he had much better chances against the rocks, and rushed forward, shattering the first two apart with simple kicks from either leg and performing the same trick he did before in dodging Sasuke's Amaterasu staff before, moving at top speed for a fraction of a second and seeming to vanish for a moment until the next flying rock moved safely past where he had been, and returning to where he was before. It looked once again to the onlookers above, even to Himawari's untrained Byakugan, that Lee simply passed through the rock unharmed.

"He's untouchable…" Hima gasped. "How's Uncle Sasuke gonna beat him?"

"He'll find a way!" Sarada yelled out, even as Lee advanced forward effortlessly to confront Sasuke's clones as hell rained down on the battlefield from above.

"You can do it, Papa!" Sarada cheered as the Asura Susanoo clone was sidestepped and punished by an Akitaka to the chest, destroying the clone inside and causing the armor to wither away.

"I know you can do it!" she yelled even louder as the second clone was obliterated without much more trouble. Lee's final Akitaka was enough to obliterate the stone shield and fight through the powerful repulsive forces around Susanoo, but not destroy the clone. Lee finished it off as it fell to the ground by landing on top of it with a simple hard stomp from above.

The barrage of missiles from above had kicked up a large cloud of dust and smoke. Sasuke could see Lee's silhouette through it easily, and quickly notched a flaming arrow.

He unleashed another Black Volley into the cloud of smoke, ripping through it and revealing that Lee had vanished again, not a moment too soon. Sasuke swore silently and redirected the arrows back toward himself, planning to surround himself with a shield of black flames to stall Lee's approach.

"Too late!"

Lee reappeared again before his arrows could return, and with a brutal Leaf Rising Wind, carried Sasuke and his Susanoo right off the ground and high into the air. The impact was nothing less than explosive, so much so that it caused an eruptive burst of flames and a cloud of smoke from Lee's leg at the point of impact, which was enough to shatter right through and disperse Susanoo's first layer of armor, leaving Sasuke cloaked only in its humanoid form as he soared above the treeline in an instant. The strike did not do as much harm to Sasuke directly as Akitaka did, but he was still wincing, unable to move.

Lee paused and took a breath before leaping into the air, not only following Sasuke into the sky, but moving past him, to where he would eventually be.

"The time to end this is now! This is my second-strongest technique, the power of the Hidden Lotus multiplied a hundred times over! _Spring Hare!_" Lee declared. When Sasuke finally reached him, Lee swung another brutal kick, causing another explosion at the point of impact and rocketing Sasuke across the sky, far out of sight of the onlookers.

"Papa?!" Sarada cried out as Lee vanished again. Far in the distance in the sky, there was another flash of an explosion and a poof of smoke. Then, elsewhere, another. And another, until the sky was rapidly being filled with loud, booming explosions and a smoky, stormy-looking sky.

Sasuke had lost his bearings completely. As he was constantly battered to and fro across the sky, his body was beginning to hurt all over, from his head to his feet, despite not being struck directly. Lee's multitude of strikes on their own were not enough to harm him or cause sufficiently damage to Susanoo besides cracking its armor, but the rapid speeds and the unexpected changes in direction he was experiencing was causing much more damage to his body, such that it was all it took for Sasuke not to lose consciousness in midair.

Lee did not stop until the sky was filled with a giant cloud of roiling smoke. He gave one more explosive kick to Sasuke toward the center of the cloud before rearing his head back and roaring out as he gave the Susanoo armor a fierce headbutt that sent Sasuke and his weakened armor rocketing straight down toward the ground. "_HA!"_

Lee moved faster, reaching the ground first and kicking straight upward, catching Susanoo with his kick and sending Sasuke right back straight up into the air again, even faster. "_RU!"_

Once again, Lee followed Sasuke at maximum speed, meeting him at the apex of the giant smoke cloud and delivering the final blow, a double-legged stomp straight down into Susanoo's back as he flew upwards into it. "_USAGI!"_

The final kick was so powerful and brutal that it sent Sasuke all the way back down to the ground again in an instant. The force sent powerful winds billowing through the trees above, and Sarada had to hold her glasses onto her face to keep them from flying off. Sakura held onto all of them as tightly as she could, and gazed with shock at the scene.

The force of Sasuke's impact had felled many of the nearby trees below the cliff and left a harsh crater filled with rising smoke and dust. When the smoke slowly cleared away, they saw Susanoo, in its weakest, skeletal form and only barely-sustained. Its face was half-buried in the ground, its jaw was unhinged, one of its two right arms were completely shattered, and its spine had been utterly destroyed by the last strike of Haru-usagi. Susanoo was motionless, and slowly withering away.

Sasuke, on the inside, was still conscious despite everything, seething with pain in every inch of his body, and barely able to see anything in front of him. The world was a blur, and he was fighting on the brink of collapse from pain and exhaustion. Sasuke tried once to rise to his knees, but only fell back down again, and more and more wisps of Susanoo began fading away.

Rings of blackness closed in on the edges of Sasuke's vision. Hanging by a thread on the edge of consciousness, he sighed and closed his eyes, but opened them again at the sound of a voice yelling at him from above.

"Papa! Get up, Papa, you can't lose!"

Sasuke's eyes slowly turned to the cliff, where all four of the onlookers were on their feet and looking worriedly down at Sasuke, but Sarada was screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Don't just lie down and give up, Papa! You're way stronger than that! Do like Uncle Itachi did, Papa! Push on through sheer will and perseverance! I know you can do it, Papa! Get up and fight!"

Sasuke stared up at Sarada for a long moment, moved by her words. Thoughts of his brother, of the best memories of his brother, came surging back to mind.

_Get up…_

Sasuke closed his eyes and groaned again as he fought through the pain racing through his body and trying to weigh him down. In moments, he was on his feet again, within the shattered remains of Susanoo, which he still maintained with all of his strength.

Sasuke looked straight up at the sky, and when he heard a boom of thunder, he grinned. Lee had made the conditions perfect. He raised his left hand toward the sky, and the onlookers gaze up above. For a brief instant, lightning flashed in the clouds with the shape of a dragon.

…_and fight._

"Kirin."

With a simple word, Sasuke called down a bolt of lightning directly into his hand, gathering the enormous, unstable mass of lightning energy into the form of a Chidori.

_One last move, Lee,_ Sasuke thought as he looked up at the sky,

High up above, Lee saw Sasuke gather the lightning and grin. "A final clash! I will not hold back, Sasuke! This is the absolute limit of the power of my seventh gate: _Natsuraion! Summer Lion!"_

Lee rose as high as he could into the sky, high above his cloud of smoke, before simply rocketing himself down toward the ground with his right leg outstretched for one full-power falling kick. As he picked up speed, the friction of the air set Lee's leg brightly ablaze, and a large shell of compressed, burning air and chakra began to form and expand around him.

When Lee's descent carried him into the cloud he had formed, the clouds of smoke gathered and swirled around Lee, the falling mass of fire and smoke appearing like a meteor at first, before the shape of a lion's head with its thick, flowing black mane of smoke trailing behind it. The sound of the rapidly descending meteor of flames was like a mighty creature's roar.

Sasuke squinted at Lee's destructive approach, using all of the control he had left over Susanoo to force it out of the dirt and reorient itself to face straight up. The bow on Susanoo's arm was still barely intact...

He aimed his massive Chidori upwards and oriented himself toward the bow. Susanoo slowly raised its firing arm, used its one good right arm to slowly notch and pull back, before launching Sasuke like an arrow straight up with the last of its strength. Susanoo dissipated, and Sasuke soared through the sky, eyes squinted and fierce.

One last time, time moved in slow motion around Lee as he came milliseconds away from impact, and the two combatants briefly locked eyes.

The sound of their impact was nothing short of godly. The strongest winds yet tore through the ground below and Sakura tried to hold on as tightly as she could to the children.

Sakura paused to make a hand sign, which allowed Sarada to wiggle free of her mother's grip and run all the way to the edge of the cliff, her glasses flying off of her face as she stared in awe at the resulting explosion of light and energy. Every conceivable color seemed to be mixed into the flying miasma of beautiful destruction, and the energy filling the air carried a stunned Sarada right off her feet, almost.

The ball of destructive energy made a sudden, rapid descent toward the ground, and Sarada was yanked backwards by Sakura into a sudden warm and enveloping darkness, shortly before the loudest, deepest explosion she had ever heard blasted around her, and the whole world seemed to tremble and collapse.

…

…

The scene before Naruto was unreal. By the time he'd reached the source of the blast, most of the smoke from the explosion and mushroom cloud had withered into the air, and what was left was a crater about the size of one of the Leaf Village's districts. He furrowed his brows in surprise and concern, before blinking his eyes to activate Sage Mode, sensing out any nearby presences.

He sensed Katsuyu nearby, which meant Sakura, and quickly rushed off in that direction. Sure enough, he found a large dividend of the giant slug half-buried into the ground and covered in soot, with one eyestalk peeking up out of the ground. She looked dazed, to say the least.

"Nnh… Greetings, Lord Naruto…" she mutters, seeming to restore some of her coherence after a moment. "Lady Sakura… A little more warning the next time would be much appreciated…"

Katsuyu's amorphous body separated itself to reveal Sakura, Sarada, Boruto, and Himawari all safely tucked inside, totally unharmed by whatever caused the explosion.

Sarada climbed out first, squinting and blinking around, having lost her glasses again… That was the least of her worries, however.

"Papa?! Papa!" she yelled out, running and stumbling down deeper into the crater.

"What the hell is going on, here? The explosion could be seen from the village and everybody is in a panic," Naruto told Sakura, before giving Boruto and Himawari firm glares. "And I _really_ don't think this is the cinema where you said you were going to be…"

"Uh, we got detoured!" Boruto quickly explained away before running down to follow Sarada and find out the result of the final clash. Himawari was much more remorseful, hanging around her father and Sakura a moment longer.

"We're really sorry, Daddy… I didn't want to fib to you, I swear!"

Sakura ran her fingers through her hair with a sigh as she looked toward the epicenter as well. "I assumed they had your permission. Although if I knew it would end quite _this_ intensely, I wouldn't have brought them," she sighed, thanking Katsuyu before canceling the summon. "Sasuke and Lee were just sparring. Can you see them?"

Naruto glanced toward the epicenter and nodded, following his son and Sarada, with Sakura and Hima right behind. "Yeah. They're alive."

The very center of the crater was still smoking, and Sarada paused, watching with bated breath as a silhouette began to stumble into view, before her eyes widened as she saw that it was her father, staggering and limping forward with Lee slung across his right shoulder, conscious, but totally disabled.

Sasuke's shirt and cloak were completely withered away, and hi left arm hung limply at his side, somewhat deformed and definitely broken, with his hand suffering harsh burns. One of his eyes was shut, and he definitely looked to be in a lot of pain, but he smiled at Sarada.

"Thank you for what you said," he grunted, still walking limply. "I don't think I would've won without you, Sarada."

"What the hell, Sasuke?! You and Lee couldn't tussle without scaring the village half to death? How am I supposed to explain this?" Naruto nagged, which Sasuke ignored.

Lee managed the weakest of chuckles. "You may win this round, Sasuke, but trust and believe that I am only getting started. When I recover, I will be back to challenge you again to tie up our rivalry! …Though, maybe we will have a bit less destructive competition…"

Sasuke sighed and nodded. "We'll see, Lee… Just focus on recovering, first and foremost."

Sasuke's eyes turned toward Sakura, whose green orbs were filled to the brim with both pride and relief that he'd won and he was alright.

"You caused this, I hope you know," he teased with faux sternness, to which Sakura simple rolled her eyes and puckered up to give Sasuke his prize.

Sasuke closed his eyes and leaned in, but before his lips could meet with his wife's another green-clad blur flies in out of nowhere to deliver a solid flying kick straight to Sasuke's ribs.

"Unhand my father!"

Sasuke's eyes widened and he let out a wheeze before dropping Lee and falling backwards to the ground, out cold.

While everyone else was stunned into silence, the newcomer, who was immediately recognized as Rock Lee's son, Metal Lee, fell to his knees before his fallen father, his eyes gushing with tears. "Father! I saw and heard the Haru-usagi while I was doing my laps along the wall! I just had to come and investigate. I'm so sorry I wasn't here sooner to help!"

"H-Ha… That's my boy, Lee!" Rock Lee groaned back, and as the two of them burst into tears for each other, Sakura panicked and knelt beside Sasuke to try waking him as she healed him, while Bolt and Himawari had to use their combined strength to hold back an enraged Sarada from clobbering Metal Lee

Naruto stood back and watched the scene unfold into cacophonous chaos for a few moments before he sighed and shook his head. "Screw this, I'm going home…" he muttered before vanishing in a yellow flash.

* * *

**Tada! The fight might have ended a bit over-the-top, but screw it, I had SO MUCH FUN writing it and finishing it! And now I have no idea where to go from here. :P The well of ideas is running dry again, and it just might be getting to about the time where I should bring EFF to a close and start on something else. I love this story absolutely to death, but I don't want it to drag on past its time, and I think it's really going to be hard to top this part of the story.**

**I don't know for sure how I'm going to end it, though. I thought I did know, but now I'm not sure! I'll think about it. In the meantime, I've pretty much decided that I think I'm going to start Boruto: Online first, after I wrap EFF up. My friend and I are really excited for it and are already getting lots of ideas for it. Currently trying to shape the world right now, which is a fun process. Hopefully, you guys will be able to see it soon!**

**Thanks for reading, guys!**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your~**

**Hearts beat with~**

**Calamity~!**

**Till next time!**


	18. More Reasons Than Just Your Health

**Hey, guys! Welcome back! I'm getting through these chapters a lot quicker now, even though my schedule's kind of keeping me busy. The Sasuke v. Lee fight was giving me lots of trouble at the start, so that was probably part of the problem. :P**

**I'll definitely try to keep these chapters coming out on a biweekly basis. I wish I could comfortably prescribe myself to a schedule of updates, like other authors can. That would be awesome. But alas, I can't often find the time or energy to write, and disciplining myself to make time every day is hard! Oh, well. I'll always do the best I can, no matter what. :P**

**Even though it's a bit shorter and the pace of the story is returning back to about what it was before, this might have been one of my favorite chapters to write. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy it, too!**

* * *

Sasuke rarely dreamed when he slept, and when he did he never woke up comfortably.

His rare dreams were never good ones. They were always memories. Nighttime flashbacks into a time in his life he really wished he could forget. Everything he ever did for the sake of stoking his own hatred toward his brother, and later the village and its residents.

As time passed, Sasuke slowly became less and less haunting. But they never became _good_. The last dream Sasuke had on the road during his travel was a somber repeat of his brother's final loving words before he returned to the afterlife, never to witness the birth and growth of his niece, or to even have the opportunity to possibly give Sarada a cousin or two. It was not a very good dream, but Sasuke woke up fine, and not at all disturbed, so he did not consider it a bad one, either.

As he slipped in and out of sleep during his several days' stay at the hospital, he had recurring dreams about Sakura and Karin and the time when all three of them had been traveling together briefly before and during Sakura pregnancy. Short glimpses into the recent past, of Sakura and Karin's frequent arguments and the last big fight that they had with each other, culminating in Sasuke threatening to leave the both of them, of his own arguments with Sakura after discovering she was pregnant and refused to leave him to go back to the village where it was safe…

His last fleeting memory was of the discomfort and inconvenience of Sakura's water breaking at the worst of times, and the three of them having no choice but to stop and give birth to Sakura's child in one of Orochimaru's old, filthy and decrepit former hideaways. At the very last second before he awoke, he remembered seeing their daughter's little round face and narrow eyes that reminded Sasuke so much of himself…

"Sarada…" Sasuke mumbled unconsciously as the world came into focus. He stared up at the ceiling for a long moment as he let all of his senses return to him one by one: the repetitive beeping of his heart monitor beside him, the subtle smell of cleanliness and medicine in the air, the stale taste of the cool, sterilized air, and the weary, tired feeling that had eased through his entire body.

He'd been in bed for too long. Sasuke sighed and sat up, immediately frustrated by how numb and useless his left arm was now, wrapped up in its compact cast and bandages. He looked around for only a moment, and his frown slightly softened when he saw his wife in her hospital scrubs, fast asleep in a chair at his bedside.

The sun was rising, and the delicate rays of sunlight streaming in through the half-parted curtains hurt Sasuke's eyes, but they also seemed to make Sakura's sleeping face look that much more peaceful and serene.

"Sakura, wake up," he said at a suitable-enough volume to stir her. Her eyebrows slowly furrowed together, and her eyes fluttered open groggily. She suddenly looked uncomfortable as she gathered her bearings, and Sasuke could tell why. Chairs like that weren't exactly the best for napping. She stood and stretched, further emphasizing her beautiful outline against the morning light, before scratching at her arm and looking at Sasuke with a smile.

"Morning… How are you feeling, Sasuke?" she asked.

"Like I shouldn't be here," he sighed, shaking his head. "How long have I been asleep, and how long until I can leave?"

Sakura closed her eyes and shook his head. "I know you don't like taking it easy, Sasuke, but you and Lee really roughed each other up. Almost every one of your organs was bruised, you fractured some ribs, Lee's body and your hand suffered some pretty major burns, Lee's lung collapsed, and his leg is in worse shape than your arm. Susanoo protected you from major harm, but you were still in poor shape and needed some minor operations. You're gonna feel crummy for a while, and there's _no_ way I can allow you to leave the village any time soon in your condition, for more reasons than just your health…"

Sasuke did not acknowledge the brief look of warmth in Sakura's eyes, and he sighed, continuing to try to pull himself out of bed anyway, detaching himself from the medical equipment surrounding him. "You haven't answered either of my questions."

Sakura frowned and crossed her arms. "Three days. After your operation, I used medical ninjutsu to stabilize you, keep you asleep for longer stretches of time to speed up your healing. And if you behave yourself, you could leave by noon after I do some analyses…"

Sakura trailed off, giving up after Sasuke managed to haul himself out of bed, looking down with a frown at the thin white hospital gown he had been put in.

"Where are my clothes? The rest of my things?" he asked.

"Your things are at home. Your clothes are with me. And you're not getting them back until I clear you to leave, so you might as well get back in bed," Sakura said, setting her hands on her hips. "I'm sorry if this is _annoying_ to you, Sasuke, but it's for your own health, I promise."

Sasuke closed his eyes. "I promise I won't leave the hospital. You can keep a tracking tag on me if you want. You can even stay at my side and watch my every move; I wouldn't mind. But let me put my clothes on and walk the halls, Sakura. Can I at least have that freedom?"

Sakura saw in her husband's expression just how uncomfortable he was in this setting. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Only because it's you, Sasuke. But if I even think you're gonna try to make a move to leave, I'm going to carry you right back to bed and sit on you, clear?"

Sasuke nodded with a quiet, affirmative grunt, and he waited until Sakura had left the room to smile and chuckle quietly.

…

…

Three days of Sarada sleeping and waking up in Himawari's bed, and she wasn't tired of it yet. As gaudy and yellow as her best friend's room was, there was just something refreshing about seeing it and taking in the flowery scents around her when she woke up. Sarada could understand how Hima could jump out of bed with so much energy.

While she normally awoke to peace and quiet, however, that morning, Sarada had the sounds of a couple of yelling voices, laughing, and television noises from somewhere downstairs. Not having the serenity she was used to in the morning was slightly annoying, but Sarada shrugged it off as she pulled herself out of bed and hopped in the shower before heading downstairs in a fresh new outfit.

The closer she got to the noise, the more voices she recognized, and Sarada heard Boruto's frustrated growls of defeat as she peeked into the living room to see him, Shikadai, and Inojin sitting on the couch together, playing video games and laughing at Boruto's misfortunate at said games, it seemed.

"Hey, you guys," Sarada called out. "What are you doing? Did you just get back today, Shikadai?"

While Boruto kept his eyes squinted and focused on the game, Shikadai and Inojin casually turned their heads away from the television for a moment to acknowledge Sarada with nods.

"My dad got back first, a few days ago. I stayed a couple days longer and came back with my mom last night," Shikadai corrected. "Was a nice trip. Got to visit lots of places and met a couple of cousins, Shinki and Yodo, while I was in the Sand Village, and they came back with us to visit the Leaf for a little bit."

"We're playing Chronicles of Nin right now," Inojin added, looking back at the screen. "Arcade Mode. Shikadai and I are playing, at least. The way Bolt is eating it right now, you would think he was holding the controller upside-down. Or playing with his feet. Or with his eyes closed. He's that awful. It's uncomfortable to watch how bad he is, really."

"Hey, shut up!" Boruto yelled, going red in the face as he turned his eyes away from the screen to glare at Inojin. "I haven't played this game in a while, alright? I've been so used to-"

While Boruto's attention was elsewhere, Shikadai's character took the opportunity to casually walk up and kill Boruto's character, to steal a massive amount of points. And while Boruto gnashed his teeth in rage, Shikadai and Inojin shared a quick high-five.

Sarada grinned and rolled her eyes. She didn't understand video games. "You guys seen Himawari?"

"Aunt Hanabi came to get her for training before you woke up," Boruto said.

Sarada looked glum for a moment, but Inojin smiled and tried to perk her up. "If you want, you could play with us. There's an extra controller. Even if you've never played, you can't be much worse than Bolt. He could definitely use the help."

Sarada tilted her head and considered it for a moment. After seeing another enraged outburst from Boruto at the end of whatever round they were playing, she snickered, and figured that if it could enrage Bolt so much, it couldn't be that bad to try out. Plus, what better opportunity to connect a bit more with her friends?

"Eh… Sure, why not?"

…

…

What a difference pants made… Putting on his own clothes again, albeit with Sakura's help, definitely made Sasuke feel much less vulnerable and a lot more secure, and walking around the halls of the facility, albeit with Sakura at his side at all times, eased his mind somewhat and gave him a limited, yet tolerable sense of freedom.

He visited Lee first, happy to find that despite looking a lot worse for wear than Sasuke did, he was in great spirits and anticipating a speedy recovery, stronger than ever. Sasuke planned to keep Lee to his word that their next contest would be less likely to put them in the hospital.

He wasn't sure where he was going after that. He just… wandered. Knowing that for three days, he had just been laying still and doing nothing, and that he had planned to be out of the village and back on the road again _yesterday_ was bothering him slightly, but not as much as he thought it would. Sasuke was restless; it was just a part of who he was. But his length of stay in the village was not debilitating him like it did before.

As the implications of this ran through Sasuke's mind, he hardly noticed that Sakura had begun leading him gently by the hand through hallways and up staircases, and he did not snap out of his mental musings until he felt the heat of sunlight and a cool daytime breeze against his face.

Sasuke looked up, and raised a brow. Sakura had brought him to the roof of the hospital, where they could look out over most of the village from behind a strong chain-link security fence along the building's edges. He needed this, Sasuke realized as he took in a long breath of fresh air and closed his eyes.

"I know you're not an inquisitive person, Sasuke, but I figured you might be at least a _little_ curious about what I meant," Sakura said softly as she leaned against his good arm.

"I was irritable when I woke up, and I was lost in thought just now. I must not have caught whatever you subtly tried to tease my interests with," Sasuke responded, looking down at her and letting his right arm coil slowly around her waist. "Run it by me again?"

Sakura was silent for a long, puzzling moment, staring out at the village around her and trying – failing, rather – to keep the smile off of her face.

"I said… I said that I'm not going to let you leave the village anytime soon. For more reasons than just your health."

By then, Sakura's lips had spread in an uncontainable goofy grin, and she had to cover her mouth and look away for a moment, a tear falling from her eye.

Sasuke was bewildered, turning toward his wife with a furrowed brow and a worried eye. "Sakura, what are you talking about? No riddles, just say what you need to say."

Sakura was again silent, and it took her a moment of sniffling and another brief giggle-fit before she regained enough of her composure to look Sasuke right in the eyes and guide his right hand toward her stomach. "I'm pregnant, Sasuke. We're having another baby."

Sasuke's eyebrows rose slightly. At first, it was the only outward response he showed to the news. On the inside, an explosion had gone off in his chest, rocking his core and sending warmth rolling like shockwaves through his form, swelling his heart and melting away every other thought from his mind, except the words his wife had just said.

And all at once, everything seemed to harmonize in Sasuke's head. She'd already made it clear that she wasn't going to leave the village, possibly feeling the same way that he did and not wanting a repeat of all the stresses and hassles of being pregnant and traveling. And knowing that she would want him beside her every step of the way during their pregnancy, he wasn't leaving the village again.

At the same time, his thoughts about not feeling as bad about staying in one place again for so long came rushing back. The questions he was asking in his head suddenly had answers. Would it really be so bad to stay and try to settle for the long-term, and not continue having to travel and come back for weeks at a time? No, it wouldn't.

Could he find it in himself to put aside the self-loathing that had been eating away at his soul and had whittled its way down to only a slight gnawing as time passed and he found enlightenment in his travels? Yes, he could. He had to. It was as if a new light had suddenly found itself shining on Sasuke's soul, casting out those last few little demons that were stubbornly clinging to him.

Slowly, finally, a warm smile spread on Sasuke's face, and he pulled Sakura as close as he could with his good arm. "When did you find out?"

"Last night, I just knew. The changes are very slight and very subtle, but I can already feel them, in almost the exact same ways I felt them in the days following Sarada's conception. I'm a doctor, Sasuke. I know these things," Sakura said, not even bothering to wipe her eyes as she looked up at him, beaming with joy and obvious elation. "Please tell me you won't leave again, Sasuke. I _need_ you here."

Sasuke didn't answer verbally. He lowered his head to touch his forehead gently against her own, looking down into her eyes for a long moment before closing the distance and letting his lips meet hers.

Their tender moment of connection started out long, quiet, and warm. But it was Sakura who took it further. Coiling her arms around him, setting her needy palms against his back, she deepened the kiss, eagerly letting her tongue slip out to play, with Sasuke passively obliging and accepting his wife's increasing eagerness. His own hand began to roam her back as well, and he bore forward to pin her gently against the fence as their kiss slowly became all the lustier.

Sasuke pulled away first, his face calm and his eyes focused on hers, while Sakura was already panting and blushing slightly.

"You're back to work, I assume. How long until your shift starts?" Sasuke asked, with their lips millimeters apart.

"An hour and a half," she replied breathlessly with a knowing smile.

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and let his hand drift down to take a casual grip of her thinly-covered rear as he spoke again. "We have time," he told her simply before stealing another kiss from her lips.

* * *

**I'm thinking of committing all of the next chapter to being a nice little lemon. :3 I dunno yet, but I'll think about it. I did tell myself that I was going to write at least one more lemon into the story before I ended it, so maybe this could be it!**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, guys! If all goes well, the next one should be up by this weekend, if not sooner.**

**~M.H.C~**

**Till next time, guys!**


	19. Home Again 2

**Don't be mad at me. I wanted so badly to make this chapter a total lemon, but I just couldn't find the inspiration to see it through! Sorry! I hope you'll enjoy this nice little chapter anyway, the next-to-last chapter of Eleven Fifty-Four.**

**Yep. I think it's about time I draw this story to a close. It was an incredible journey to write and be encouraged by all of the wonderful and supportive reviews, but I've just run dry of good ideas, unfortunately! I don't want to frustrate myself wracking my brain for good ideas, then wrack my brain even harder trying to write them out. I also don't want to dilute the fact that this is a SasuSaku story by amending on the stories of other pairings onto the end of it, like I suggested I might do quite a few chapters ago.**

**So with that said, the next chapter will be the last one, a nice little epilogue to close everything out. Thank you all so much for making Eleven Fifty-Four my single most popular story with over 52,000 views, almost three times the amount of views that I've ever gotten for _any_ of the stories I've written before it. You guys are awesome, and I sincerely hope you'll continue to follow me and support the Naruto stories I plan to do in the future!**

**Without further ado, enjoy!**

* * *

Sarada did not expect to become enraptured with video games, but before she knew it, an hour had passed, and she had joined Shikadai and Inojin in systematically beating Boruto's ass in at least three different games. Hand-eye coordination, reaction timing, simple quick thinking and strategizing… Looking past the gaudy colors, the unrealistic situations, and the loud, obnoxious noises, it was almost like training, though not at all in a practical, conventional sense.

And watching Boruto eventually give up in rage and frustration and leave the living room was all the better. Sarada laughed right along with Inojin and Shikadai, all three of them sharing high-fives.

"I think I'm starting to understand the appeal of these video games a bit more," she said. "They really have a way of keeping your mind sharp and active, huh? Training your mind, while you rest your body! Do you guys and Boruto always play games like this after classes?"

Shikadai and Inojin blinked and gave each other a look before Shikadai nodded and shrugs. "I s'pose that's one way of looking at it, sure. And yeah, pretty much."

"You raise a fair point," Inojin concurred. "I guess old people like my mom and Mrs. Uzumaki must think video games are cancerous because they're either ignorant to their merits, or are bitter and jealous they never had them a long time ago when they were our age."

Hinata came down the steps and past the living room as Inojin was speaking, and caught enough of what he said to give her pause, before she turned her head to stare at him.

Inojin waved to Hinata obliviously, and Shikadai clapped a palm over his forehead before grabbing Inojin by the sleeve and pulling him to his feet. "We should go. Afternoon classes are soon anyway. Tell Boruto thanks for having us over, and sorry for Inojin, Mrs. Uzumaki," he sighed as he dragged a confused Inojin toward the door.

Hinata continued to stare after them until they had left, before she sighed and smiled warmly at Sarada. "Good morning, Sarada. Did you sleep well?"

She pushed her wondering thoughts about video games to the side momentarily to smile and nod at Hinata in return. "Yeah, I slept fine. I think I should be heading home today, though. I was hoping Himawari would be around so I could hang out with her before I packed up, but she's training. And it's about the time I should be getting ready for classes, too. What about you? Are you feeling much better?"

Hinata glanced over at the door briefly. "Well, I was," she mumbled before looking back at Sarada. "But yes, I'm no longer in any pain. I was just about to start breakfast. Would you like something?"

Sarada grinned and bowed her head in appreciation. "That would be great, thanks!"

While Hinata prepared toast and rummaged through the pantries in the kitchen for snack bars, Sarada returned to Himawari's room to shower, change, and gather her things. She, Boruto, and Hinata ate breakfast together, and it took some time and talking for Boruto to become less sore about being thrashed in their games. Breakfast concluded rather quickly, and with a last goodbye to Hinata, Boruto and Sarada left the house together, headed in the direction of the Academy.

They shared words as they walked together, and it wasn't long until the two of them heard an excited voice call out from the roofs, and looked up to see Himawari riding on the back of another one of their friends, Mitsuki. As the leapt down to walk alongside them and explain that they'd ran into each other while Hima was leaving from her morning training, Sarada felt her heart grow warmer and her smile grow a little wider.

Some minutes later, Inojin and Shikadai joined them on the road as well, with Chocho with them, immediately magnifying the volume of the general conversation. It was a small little crowd surrounding Sarada and making their way toward their classes, but even with just six other people around her, Sarada felt nearly overwhelmed.

She looked around, seeing the faces of people who would always smile back at her, who didn't care about her lineage or her family's past when they befriended her. The occasional odd stare or glare from a few prejudiced others on the street didn't even go noticed as she walked and talked, smiling brightly, with joy shining behind her red-rimmed glasses.

A cold feeling on the side of her neck drew Sarada's eyes to her left, and she stared for a moment at what she saw in an alley as she passed: a tall, thin man wearing a simple black robe. He had short black hair and large onyx eyes with deep tear-troughs beneath them than made them seem hollow, but there was perpetual warmth and peace in his eyes and smile.

Sarada recognized his face. She had seen him when her father had told her about him last week.

"Uncle…?" she mutters under her breath.

Itachi's smile broadened for a brief moment, as Sarada could feel the warmth of his affection, even without him saying a word. Only a second passed before Itachi turned and faded away as he walked down the alley, leaving no trace of his presence.

Sarada was stunned and silent for another long moment, until she heard Boruto's voice calling out to her, "Yo, slowpoke! Hurry up, what's keeping you?"

Sarada turned to see that all her friends had stopped, and she blushed slightly before waving back. "I'm coming!" Sarada spared one more glance down the alley before she ran to catch up with her friends.

…

…

After trivially obscuring the rooftop cameras' view of them with simple genjutsu, Sasuke did the best he could with the limited amount of time he had, pinning his wife against the chain-link fence, doing away with her scrubs, and showering her in as much raw, passionate pleasure as he could manage.

His electrifying touch (despite not having the use of his good hand) and firm, unshaking pace brought her to her peak several times over and turned her face bright red with how heated and rough they dared to get. His lips journeyed all over her body to visit her most treasured, sensitive spots he knew would drive her into a squirming fit.

But she still wouldn't let him leave the hospital early. It was three in the afternoon by the time he was finally clear to walk out, and he almost felt as if he was leaving prison. He had fresh air to breath and the sunlight and sounds of nature and activity all around him, instead of being funneled in through a small window. He had almost total freedom, save for the restriction of his left arm for several weeks.

With his new liberty, Sasuke went along with his usual routine of wandering around the village, lost in his thoughts, replacing the agitation of being imprisoned with curious thought about his pregnant wife and what that entailed. He would still have to leave occasionally, as there were things beyond his travels of worldly and personal discovery that required his attention. Things that wouldn't wait nine months for him to be ready to take care of them.

He sighed, but at the same time, was somewhat encouraged. He would not have to leave for nearly as long a time as he did before, for weeks, sometimes months at a time. He would not make the same mistakes he made with Sarada. Sasuke promised himself he'd be there for his second child, and he felt confident he could keep that promise.

These thoughts came and went rather quickly, and as Sasuke wandered and the hours passed, he began to plan thoroughly in his head what he would try to be doing in preparation for his new child's arrival, but one particular thought lingered in Sasuke's head that he found it oddly difficult to let go: a name. What would they call him or her?

Sasuke imagined that Sakura already had a name in mind that he would go with, just like Sarada, but the curiosity never faded, and lasted even into the evening as Sasuke laid reclined on the couch at home, his healing arm resting comfortably on top of him and his eyes gazing out at the reddening light outside.

Sasuke turned his head as he heard the lock tumble and the front door open, and gave Sarada a curious raise of the brow as she comes in with Himawari and Chocho right behind her, laughing and talking about something.

"Papa!"

"What's up, Mr. Uchiha?"

"Uncle Sasuke, Uncle Sasuke!"

He chuckled as his daughter and her friends greeted him, and he lifted his right hand in a short wave, before blinking as Himawari runs right up to him, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet.

"Can we stay over a few nights, Uncle Sasuke? Please, pretty please? My daddy and Chocho's daddy said it was alright!"

Sasuke glanced over at Sarada and Chocho, who were also grinning pleadingly. He did not miss the fact that both Chocho and Himawari had already packed up sleepover bags, so there was really no question here. Not that he saw any problem in it anyway. He simply chuckles and nods his head. "Sure. Just don't break anything, and try not to be too loud past eleven, alright?"

"We promise! Thanks, Papa!"

The three of them immediately ran for the stairs, but Sarada paused, turning toward her father with a curious, slightly wary expression.

"Are you going to have to leave again, soon, Papa?"

Yesterday, Sasuke would have sighed, pulled his daughter into a hug, tapped his fingers against her forehead, or his forehead against her own, and made a promise that he'd try to be back as soon as possible this time, whatever that meant. But Sasuke was happy that this time, he could sit up and smile and say what he hoped for so long he'd be able to say when the question came up.

"No. I don't think I'll be leaving again any time soon, Sarada."

There was a brief pause of shock as Sarada heard and processed her father's words, but slowly, a wide smile spread on her face, and she ran up to throw her arms around Sasuke and hug him tightly.

"Seriously, Papa?! You mean it?! That's the best news ever! Mama's gonna be so happy, I know it! Have you told her yet?"

"Sarada…"

"Yeah?"

"My arm…"

Sarada gasped and immediately let go and took a step back, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry… I'm just really happy."

Sasuke relaxed a little, sighing at the brief soreness that throbbed through his healing arm. When he looked up again, his eyes met the most joyful expression he had ever seen on his daughter's face as she told him. "It's good to finally have you here, Papa."

Sasuke took a long moment without saying anything, before he reached out with his good arm to gently remove Sarada's glasses from her face. She blinked at him curiously as Sasuke stared for a long moment, seeing so much of himself in her, so much of the happiness that he had before he had been scarred forever by the massacre.

"Something wrong?" Sarada asked with a curious tilt of the head, and Sasuke merely smiled warmly and shook his head.

"Clean your glasses," he advised her as he returned them to her.

Sarada smirked and rolled her eyes. "Thanks, I will. We'll be down for dinner when Mama comes home!" she said before heading upstairs.

As if summoned by her mention, Sakura came through the door shortly afterwards, out of her scrubs and in a simple light set of clothes. The two of them met eyes for a moment before Sakura smirked at her husband's half-annoyed expression.

"How are you feeling?" she asked as she put her things down, slipped off her shoes, and moved toward the kitchen.

"I'm about as healthy as I would have been if I'd been allowed to leave hours earlier than I did," he responded.

"Don't get sassy with me, Sasuke, it's just protocol," she teased, looking over her shoulder and sticking her tongue out as she gathers up ingredients for dinner. "It's cute that you thought sex would convince me to shirk my duties, though. Solid A-plus for effort~"

Sasuke lifted a brow, swinging his legs back onto the sofa and reclining again as he closed his eyes. "Hmph. Hope you enjoyed that, then. I'm sleeping on the couch tonight."

For a while, there was no answer but a small chuckle, and Sasuke slowly began to drift off into a short nap. He was stirred before he could fully doze, however, by the weight of his wife climbing on top of him to straddle his waist, after having prepared everything for dinner, and now waiting for it all to cook. "Well, so will I, then."

They stared at each other for a long moment before Sasuke reached up his good hand to touch gently against Sakura's cheek and forehead, as if testing for a fever. "Is your mood swinging already? You've been a real rascal lately, and I'm not sure how to feel about it," Sasuke chuckled. "Sarada and her friends are right upstairs, by the way."

Sakura nodded her head and crossed her arms, making no other suggestive moves for the moment. "Maybe it's just excitement," she suggested. "Knowing that you'll actually be staying in the village from now on is huge for me, Sasuke. It was all I could do not to just scream on the roof."

"You did, though."

"…You know what I mean, Sasuke,"

He chuckled at Sakura's flustered blush, wrapping his good arm around her waist and grunting with the effort it took to sit up. Sakura moved with him, allowing him to sit back on the couch while she remained in his lap, their chests pressed together and her face and warm breath temptingly close to his own.

"I already know there will still be short times when I need to leave the village, maybe for a day or two, just to be able to fully set my mind at ease when I need it. But I promise, Sakura, I won't be gone for months at a time anymore. I'm here to stay."

She smiled and nodded her head. "I'm fine with that, Sasuke… As long as you promise to find some way to take Sarada and I with you at least once, for a weekend or something?"

Sasuke lowered his eyes and gave it a second of thought before he smiled gently. "I'll try to figure something out. Somewhere safe where we can fly and see the sights… I'm sure I can think of something."

Sakura's smile spread widely on her face, and she wrapped her arms gently around Sasuke, minding his wounded arm as she rolls forward slowly in his lap and presses her lips against his for a soft, long, and emotional kiss. Sasuke sighed gently, feeling the warmth rising in his core as his working arm reaches around again, rubbing up her back before drifting down to cup and grasp at one soft, clothed cheek…

As they both closed their eyes and leaned into each other, losing themselves in the moment, neither of them heard Sarada coming down the stairs.

"Papa, was that Mama coming home? What's for din-"

She stopped short, her mouth agape as she stared at her parents' long and heated kiss. They both pulled away and looked over as they heard their daughter, and for a long few moments, there is just awkward silence.

Finally, Sarada blinked and turned back toward the stairs. "Nevermind, I'll… just come down and see when it's ready…" she said, murmuring the word 'dirty' underneath her breath as she stepped out of sight.

Sasuke and Sakura both looked at each other again thoughtfully before they both chuckled softly.

"Welcome home, Sasuke," she sighed, leaning in to rest her head on his shoulder.

He reached up to run his fingers through her hair and tilt his head back. It certainly was nice to be home again.

* * *

**Once again, you guys, thanks so much for being awesome readers! The epilogue chapter will be out very soon, hopefully before the week is out, so look forward to it! And after that, I'm thinking about doing a few oneshots before I jump into Boruto: Online and start writing that out! If you haven't put me on Author Alert, already, make like Shia LaBeouf and JUST DO IT! :3**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your~**

**Hearts beat with~**

**Calamity~!**

**Till next time!**


	20. Epilogue

**Welcome, one and all, to the epilogue chapter of Eleven Fifty-Four. Like I said in the last chapter, it's been a fun ride. But all good things must come to an end, and I don't want to stretch this story thin with mediocrity like I almost did with trying to push a Sasuke v. Kiba angle. I really think that this is a good point to end the story and, I'm very proud of how it ended.**

**So enjoy this, my own personal retelling of Sarada's fight in the Chunin Exams, from Boruto: The Movie. Very disappointed that the Chunin Exams in general didn't get shown in the movie as much as I wanted them too! But alas~**

* * *

On the brink of total darkness and crippling pain, a burst of stubbornness and will sent the sensations rushing back to Sarada's head. The roaring crowd filled her ears and the sight of the bright morning sky filled her wide, bruised eyes behind their cracked lenses.

She gasped for breath just as Rock Lee, the proctor standing above her, knelt to examine her condition, and as quickly as her aching body would allow her, she rolled over and pulled herself shakily to her feet, her chest burning with every pant for breath.

"I'm still in the fight!" Sarada snapped before Lee could ask, and he nodded with a proud, stern understanding and leaped away back to the sidelines. "Then the battle between Sarada Uchiha and Tarui of the Hidden Cloud Village continues! _Fight!_"

Sarada was dazed, and took a brief moment to reconnect with her surroundings, what she was doing and why she was here. She was standing in the arena of the Leaf Village's Grand Stadium, in the finals of the Chunin Exams, fighting and currently losing against the long-haired Cloud kunoichi, whose first teammate had already fought and lost against Mitsuki.

This one seemed a lot more competent. Even though she was almost as cut up and bruised as Sarada was, she was still standing smugly, her blonde, animate hair shifting tauntingly around her head like snakes.

"Haven't had enough yet? What's the matter, I thought you Uchihas were supposed to be stronger than this, yeah?"

Sarada grit her teeth at Tarui's taunted, but allowed her powerful red eyes to drift briefly to the stands. Himawari, who hadn't participated in this year's exams, but wore her headband proudly around her neck, was screaming desperately for Sarada to win, and Hinata watched with a hopeful expression. Naruto sat amidst the other four Kage in the highest booth, his expression also laced with concern and hope. Her eyes drifted toward where she saw that her mother had was sitting, watching the fight with her eyes wide and worried. Held in her mother's lap were Sarada's two twin brothers, Sasoku and Usoku, two years old now and unbothered by the noise around them. Sarada looked over at the empty seat beside her mother… The seat that had been empty since the start of the final exam.

Sarada's moment of distraction was all the opening Tarui needed. With a held hand sign, her hair extended and shot out toward Sarada, wrapping tightly around her leg and yanking her right off her feet and into the air, to the surprise of some of the audience in the stadium, and the overwhelming applause of others on Tarui's side.

"This is what happens when you look away from me!" the Cloud kunoichi taunted as she began to whirl Sarada around in the air like a ragdoll, throwing her glasses right off her face and causing the edges of her vision to begin fading to black with the amount of force and speed she was experiencing.

"Now fly!" Tarui yelled before her hair flung Sarada into the air, spinning helplessly head-over-heels and unable to orient herself or defend at all. Tarui allowed Sarada to hang in the air for a brief few moments before her hair shot up to grab around her waist and bring her down for one last swing before tossing her as hard as possible across the grand arena to slam brutally into the wall.

Everything went white, and everything was once again muffled and echoed in her ears. She was on the brink of total collapse. Her Sharingan gave out, and her sore body was pleading for surrender. After coughing wetly and feeling the sticky warmth of blood trickling down her chin and tasting it in her mouth, she was moments away from gathering up enough strength and breath to forfeit before she was even more seriously hurt or worse.

She slumped against the wall and looked up at the stands again, a solemn apology in her eyes as she finds where her mother was sitting… but Sarada's eyes widened and her jaw dropped when she saw that the empty space had finally been filled. Her father had arrived, just as the clock looming above the rim of the stadium changed over to 11:54.

Both of her parents were on their feet, Sakura holding one twin while Sasuke held the other, and both of them gripped each other's free hand as they both watched Sarada. She and her father locked eyes, and with the help of her Sharingan, even despite the loss of her glasses, she was able to see him with enough precision to read his lips.

_Don't lie down and give up._

_You're stronger than that._

_Push on like your Uncle Itachi._

_Get up._

"And fight…" Sarada murmured to herself at the same time he mouthed it to her. Lee had approached once again to see if Sarada was alright, but he stepped back as he suddenly felt that the air was alive with energy, and Sarada was slowly rising to her feet once again, to the roaring support of the Leaf Village crowd.

Electricity surged through her body crackling slightly off of her form. She charged her muscles willing them to work faster and harder. She shocked her nerves, to dull and numb her pain. She raised her hands, electricity dancing between her fingers, and with one hand sign, her eyes opened wide and her Sharingan returned, with a new tomoe in each eye.

"Want some more, yeah? Come get some!" Tarui taunted, before immediately pausing in shock at how quickly Sarada began to charge from the arena wall back toward the center. In only a moment, Sarada had cleared nearly half the distance between them, and even as Tarui attempted to stall or intercept her approach with her snaking whips of hair, Sarada seemed to effortless dodge past them, vault over them, and whirl right around them with inhuman grace and reflexes.

Tarui could not stop her approach, and as Sarada came into close range, their faces inches from each other, Sarada could see the surprise and fear in her opponents eyes and grinned, before running right past her, stopping to pick up her discarded glasses and set them back on her face before turning back toward Tarui.

"You ready? I'm about to knock you into next week," Sarada grunted, aiming one arm at the ground and steadying it with the other as lightning chakra began to gather into her gloved hand, like a Chidori. Sarada's hand trembled and seized, but despite the electricity making her arm stiff and burning with excited energy, she managed to clench her hand into a fist, looking right at Tarui and charging forward at blinding speed once again.

"You really think you're coming near me with that?" Tarui scoffed, her hair extending to attempt to grab Sarada as she charged. What Tarui saw, however, was the tip of one of her snakes of hair stabbing straight through Sarada's gut, soaking the tips of her blonde locks bright red as Sarada's eyes widened and even more blood retched forth from her mouth.

Tarui's eyes widened in sudden shock and horror, especially as the gasps and screams from the audience rang out in her ear. "W-What the hell?! How did- I-I didn't…"

Just as quickly as the shocking and confusing scene played out, the sights and sounds she was experiencing quickly faded away, revealed to be a Sharingan-induced genjutsu that gave Tarui enough pause to stop her hair right in its tracks and allow Sarada to get in close. By the time Tarui regained her bearings, Sarada was in mid-swing, and it was far too late to dodge.

The Chidori punch was reinforced just as strongly with chakra-enhanced strength, and the impact of the solid, clean punch not only produced a loud blast of thunder through the arena, but was powerful enough to send Tarui and her hair spiraling through the air to smash a crater into the arena wall, before falling down to the ground, completely out.

The entire arena roared with excited applause at the rousing comeback, and as Sarada relaxed her body, she felt the pain and weakness rush back upon her like a tidal wave. Her legs wobbled and her arm crossed over her stomach, but she lifted her other arm and smiled a victorious, bloody smile, waving to all her friends in the stands and on the sidelines as she limped off with the help of a couple of medical ninja on the scene for as much treatment as possible for her injuries before her next match.

Right before she stepped out of sight, she looked toward the stands and saw her family. Her mother was hopping up and down, screaming louder than every other person in the whole arena, and her father stood with both of her twin brothers in his arms, giving Sarada a proud nod and a proud, warm smile. A smile which she copied perfectly before she moved out of sight.

* * *

**And with that, Eleven Fifty-Four is complete. Thanks once again to each and every reader and each and every wonderful person who's left a kind review! I hope you'll all continue to follow me and the Naruto stories I plan to make in the future, and keep an eye out for Boruto: Online. I'm not going to start it immediately. I'm going to give myself a bit of a breather to unwind a little bit and maybe work on a few oneshots. But I'll be starting on it soon, so once again, stay tuned and put me on Author Alert, dammit!**

**~M.H.C~**

**May all your~**

**Hearts beat with~**

**Calamity~!**

**Until the next story, guys! ;3**


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